J. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



i'lBEii Investigations. Report No. G. 

TS 

'5' 4 1 A REPORT 



O^^ THE 



jncultivaTed bast fibers 



OF 



THE UTsTITED STA.TES, 

IXCLUDING 

THE HISTORY OF PRRVIOUS EXPPRIMENTS WITH THE PLANTS 

OR FIBERS, AND BRiBF STATEMRNTS RRLATING TO 

THE ALLIED SPECIES THAT ARE PRODUCED 

n)M^]F,RCIALLY IN THE O^D WOiiLD. 



]:v 



CHARLES RICHARDS DODGE, 
SPECIAL AGENT. 



rUBLISHED BY AUTHOIilTY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGIlICULTaRE. 



OWASHlNGTOIsr: 
GOVERNMENT PllINTING OFFICE. 
1894. 




BooklLij 



/ 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Fiber Investigations. IvEroRT No. 6. 



A REPORT ■?-^- 

ON THK 



UNCULTIVATED BAST FIBERS 



OF 



THE UNITED STA.TES, 

INCLUDING 

THE HISTORY OF PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTS WITH THE PLANTS 

OR FIBERS, AND BRIEF STATEMENTS RELATING TO 

THE ALLIED SPECIES THAT ARE PRODUCED 

COMMERCIALLY IN THE OLD WORLD. 



BY 



CHARLES RICHARDS DODGE, 
SPECIAL AGENT. 



PUBLISHED BY AUTIIOUITY OF THE SECRETARY OE AGRICULTtJKB. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
181)4. 



"^s-^ 



LETTER OF TRANSFrllTTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agkicultuke, 

Office of Assistant Secuetary. 

Washington, D. C, March 15, ISOi, 
Sir: I have the lionor to transmit lierewitli, for your approval, a 
special report on the imcultivatecl bast fibers of the United States, pre- 
pared under my direction by Mr. Charles Richards Dodge, special agent 
in charge of the fiber investigations of this Department. As these fiber 
plants are a source of constant inquiry oy correspondents of the Depart- 
ment, I take pleasure in recommending its early publication. 
Very respectfully, 

CnAS. W. Dabney, Jr., 

Assiatan t tSccrcta ry. 
[Jon. J. Sterling Morton, 

Secretary. 



LETTER OF SUBMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Office of Fiber Investigations, 

Washington, B. C, March 10, 1694. 
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith the manuscript for Report 
No. 6 of the Fiber Investigations series, referring to tlie indigenous or 
uncultivated plants of the United States whose bast is known to con- 
tain fiber of greater or less value. The publication of the life history, 
and the description of the uses of these fiber plants by the Department 
is important, not only because the literature of the subject, as it per- 
tains to our own country, is so meager, but from the fact that frequent 
inquiry is made concerning the different forms by correspondents of 
the Department. 

In connection with the native species and those introduced and now 
perfectly naturalized, herein described, I have referred to a few allied 
foreign species that have been cultivated to some extent in the Old 
World, for the sake of comparison or to supply hints regarding growth 
or preparation of the fiber of our own forms. Examples of the fiber 
from all these native forms were represented in the Department's Fiber 
Exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition. A report on the culti- 
vated bast fibers, containing new and useful information, and another 
report relating to the palm and miscellaneous fibers will follow this 
publication. 

I am, sir, respectfnlly, yours, 

Chas. Richards Dodge, 
Special Agent, in Charge of Fiber Investigations. 
Hon. Chas. W. Dabney, Jr., 

Assistant Secretary. 

5 



CONTENTS. 



Introductory ^ ^. -^ 9 

The Mai.vaceous Fibers ^ - 12 

The swamp rose mallow {Hibiscus mosclieutos) ^ . . . ^ . ^ ^ ^ 12 

The rozelle hemp plant (Hibiscus sabdariffa) ^ 13 

A Florida species ( Urena Jobaia) 14 

Sitla fiber {Sida rhombifolia) — 14 

Cottou-stalk fiber {Gossypium herbaceitin) 17 

The foreign species of Hibiscus {H. cannabiiuis, etc.) 19 

Okra fiber (Abelmoschiis escidentus) 22 

Abutilon fiber 26 

Experiments with Ahutilon avicennw ...... - 27 

Abutilon fiber in other countries - -. . . 'SO 

ASCLEPIAS, OR MILKWEED FIBER 33 

Experiments with Asclepias incarvaia - 36 

The common milkweed {A. cornuH) 36 

Vegetable silk • - 37 

Other species {Calotropis gitjantea, etc.) 38 

Colorado River hemp . 40 

Efforts to utilize Sesbania macrocarpa 40 

Foreign leguminous fiber plants {Crotalaria juiicca, etc.) 42 

Miscellaneous fibers 46 

Indian hemp {Apocunum cannabinum) 46 

The nettles ( Urtica (jracUis, etc. ) 47 

The common burdock {Arctium lappa) 48 

Tree basts 48 

Index w 51 

7 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PLATKS. fAGE. 

I. The swamp rose mallow (Sihiscus mosclieutos) ...^ ^ * . . 12 

II. The "Ctesar weed" {TJrena lobata) .... ..* 14 

III. The Indian mallow (Ahuiilon aviccnvw) 26 

IV. The swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) 34 

V. The Indian hemp plant (Apocynum canuahin um) 48 

8 



UNCULTIVATED BAST FIBERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

The indigenous or uncultivated species of plants ijroducing bast 
fiber in the United States form an interesting group in the fiber series. 
They are the subject of constant inquiry, as the masses of their fila- 
ments, disintegrated and semi-bleached on the parent stalk by the win- 
ter storms often attract the attention of the farmer, who, regarding 
his discovery as new, and considering it the source of avabiable, unde- 
veloped industry, writes the Bepartment to learn the name and history 
of the species. 

For the most part the species under consideration belong to three 
large families of plants: the Malvaceae; of which the cotton plant is a 
member; the Asclepidaceoi, and the Leguminosw. The malvaceous 
species are the most numerous, and possibly the most widely distrib- 
uted, their fiber possessing fair strength, comparing with jute, rather 
than with flax and hemp, though whiter in color than the former. 
These I would consider as "jute substitutes," while the species belong- 
ing to the two other families, and which give stronger fiber, may be 
termed " hemp substitutes," and are, therefore, the more valuable. 

That these fibers are not employed commercially is due to several 
causes, the machine question being an important factor. The facts that 
flax and hemp can be readily grown over large areas of our country, 
and that the cultivation of these plants and the manipulation of the 
fiber are matters well understood, have prevented some of the native 
forms from being brought into prominence in northern localities favor- 
able to their growth, while the cheapness of commercial jute has kept 
back the culture of others, particularly in the South, where they might 
readily be produced. 

Nevertheless, some of these species have been regarded with high 
favor in the Old World, where they have been cultivated to some extent 
and where the fiber is prepared cheaply, though by primitive methods 
that could not be adopted in the United States. In these countries 
the product is usually manufactured in or near the localities of growth 
and is considered of" local" rather than of "commercial" importance. 
This gives us a hint as to the x>ossible utilization of some of our own 
species; for while it might be difficult to produce fiber that would be 
marketed with the commercial cordage fibers, small local industries 

9 



10 

might be established to grow the fiber and utihze it in such manufac- 
tures as would enter exclusively into home consumption. For many 
purjjoses sisal and manila cordage only can be employed, but, at the 
same time, considerable quantities of sisal and manila cordage are 
employed in uses for which the cheaper, home-grown fiber would be 
just as well adapted. 

The first thing to be considered, however, is the question of econom- 
ical production. What will it cost to grow an acre of stalks, and what 
will be the expense of stripping and cleaning the fiber*? Until these 
questions can be satisfactorily answered, the cultivation of the fiber 
must be considered as still in the experimental stage, and it would be 
unwise to go into the culture expecting sure remuneration. The machine 
question, as stated, is an important factor in the problem. The hand 
methods in vogue in many foreign countries where such fibers have 
been successfully produced are unsuited to the progressive ideas and 
spirit of enterprise which underlie all American agricultural and indus- 
trial practice. For example, our farmers will never stand, waist deep, 
in pools of stagnant water to thrash off the fiber of several acres of 
stalks, a handful at a time. This suggests the use of machinery at 
least for stri]3ping the bark from the stalks, the fiber to be cleaned and 
prepared by after processes which, however, do not concern the grower. 
The bast of hemp has been stripped from the stalk for a hundred years 
by means of a cumbersome hand-brake, the fiber being first softened 
by some form of retting. With the advent of a satisfactory hemp- 
brake we shall doubtless have a machine that will decorticate all 
of these so-called hemp and jute substitutes, and if their cultivation 
can be shown to cost no more than the cultivation of hemp, there is a 
possibility that their production may some day become industries. 

Many machines have been invented in past years, which for one rea- 
son or another have been found impracticable. Some have possessed 
merit, and a few have shown promise, when further improved, of giving 
full satisfaction. It should be noted that in referring to such machines 
we are not considering those for decorticating or defibrating ramie, 
though the successful ramie machine, when it appears, doubtless may 
be used as successfully, with slight modifications, for cleaning bast 
fibers in general. The machine question, as regards hemp and the hemp 
and jute substitutes, may not be regarded, therefore, as an immovable 
stumbling-block in the way of utilizing these fibers economically, for 
the efforts of American inventive genius must in time be crowned with 
full success. 

The object of this report, then, is twofold: First, to call attention to 
American fiber plants that are classed as weeds in the botanies, and 
which may some day be grown industrially, and, secondly, to give in 
condensed form their history, uses, etc., for the benefit of the many 
inquirers who, regarding them of x)0ssible value, may wish to know 
more concerning them. 



11 

The experiments herein recorded have, for the most part, been car- 
ried on by private enterprise and not nnder the auspices of the Depart- 
ment; and the Office of Fiber Investigations gives them prominence 
only because they form an interesting record of past experimental 
effort that will serve for the information and guidance of others who 
may desire in the future to carry them further and possibly to a 
successful end. 

It should be stated that the species of okra and abutilon, while 
belonging' to the Malvacece^ are treated in special chapters because of 
the prominence that has been given to these fibers through the eftbrts 
to utilize them in the industrial economy. 



THE MALVACEOUS FIBERS. 

Hibiscus, species, et. al. 

The family Malvacece is a large group of fiber-producing plants, 
found chiefly in tropical countries, though extending into temperate 
climates, some of the species in other countries being of commercial 
importance. The American species of Hibiscus and allied genera grow 
in many portions of the United States, North and South, though they 
have never been cultivated for their fiber, save in an experimental 
way. 

V^tillart states that the fiber of hibiscus, when minutely examined 
in glycerin, appears as a bundle, the filaments strongly uiuted 
together, so much so that they are with difficulty separated even after 
treatment in an alkaline solution. The fibers are short, stifl', and brit- 
tle; of sufficient fineness, but irregular in size, even in the same speci- 
mens. The central cavity, usually narrow, is prominent; cells gen- 
erally terminating in fringed points, sometimes having notches or 
sinuosities in their outlines; some are large, ribboned, and creased, the 
exterior surface striated. These last have very slender walls, which 
explain the creases. Viewed transversely with a high power the fibers 
are seen to be polygonal, with sharp angles and straight sides, the 
polygons pressed compactly together. The walls are thick and the 
central cavity round or oval. 

THE SWAMP ROSE MALLOW. 

This is one of the commonest of the mallows, known botanically as 
Hibiscus moscheutos, and found in many jiarts of tjie temperate United 
States, according to Gray " inhabiting brackish marshes along the 
coast, extending ui) rivers far beyond the influence of salt water (as 
above Harrisburg, Pa.), also Onondaga Lake, New York, and westward, 
usually within the influence of salt springs." The plant grows from 
4 to 8 feet in height and flowers late in summer. {See Plate i.) 

Experiments with this plant date back many years, and fifteen years 
ago it was the subject of renewed experiment in Kew Jersey, the advent 
of new machinery for cleaning bast fibers calling attention to the plant, 
and placing its cultivation for fiber among the possibilities. In the 
second report of the bureau of statistics, labor, and industries of Kew 
Jersey (1880), statements were made as follows: 

Recent experimeuts with the rose mallow at Camden and Newark incline us 
strongly to believe that jute of equal quality may be obtained from it, and possibly 
12 



U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Fiber Report No. 6. 



Plate 




The Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus luoacheuinf:). 



13 

under conditions more advantageous than from the Abutilon (A. avicenncp,). One 
very important advantage tlie rose mallow would have over the Abutilon, in respect 
to the economy of cultivation, consists in its being a perennial. Like ramie, the 
plants once established, the annual cuttings froui the stands would be a perpetual 
source of prortt to the cultivator, in case the quality and cost of the fiber meet our 
present expectations. 

Although the plant is generally found, in a wild state, in marshes, 
or upon the margin of streams, or in low, wet places, experiments show 
that it will thrive upon uplands as well. Thirty-five years ago rose 
mallow roots were taken from the place of their natural growth and 
planted upon uplands on the Delaware Eiver, with a view to utili- 
zation of the fiber, and for many years they held their own as tena- 
ciously as when growing in tbeir native swamps; and they may be grow- 
ing upon these u^jlands to-day, from all that is known to the contrary. 
Samples of fiber from the New Jersey experiments of fifteen years ago 
were considered not only as good as India jute, but " as secondary grades 
of imported hemps." 

An effort was made by the Department last season to secure sufficient 
fiber for test in comparison with jute and other commercial cordage 
fibers. Seed was secured from Pennsylvania, and this was planted for 
the Department, but those who undertook the experiment failed to 
report any practical results. I am unable, therefore, to make state- 
ments regarding the strength of the fiber, and must regard the con- 
clusions relating to the New Jersey experiments, quoted above, as mere 
conjecture. 

THE ROZELLE HEMP PLANT. 

This is the "Jamaica Indian Sorrel" {Hibiscus sabdariffa), the plant 
which furnishes the "rozelle"(or oiselle) hemp of the Madras terri- 
tories. In India it is a small bush, cultivated in many portions of that 
country, its stems yielding a strong silky fiber by retting the twigs 
when in flower. Its fleshy calyxes, of a pleasant acid taste, are much 
employed for making tarts as well as jelly, and in the West Indies the 
fruit is much esteemed for making cooling drinks. Another culinary 
use of the plant in India is the preparation of its leaves in salads. The 
species grows in southern Florida, where it is planted in March and 
comes to maturity in December. 

Mr. E. N. Knapp, of Tarpon Springs, Fla., states that the plant 
thrives in cultivation, but that it will not stand much frost. It will 
grow on quite poor land, though it does best on good land, where it 
reaches a height of 8 to 10 feet. It can be produced from cuttings as 
well as from seed. Even in Florida it is much esteemed for its fruit, 
which is used soon after the blossoms fall. It is said to make an excel- 
lent jelly, and is used as a sauce much as the cranberry is used in the 
Northern States. 

A superb sample of this fiber was shown in the exhibit of British 
Guiana, Chicago, 1893, which was accompanied by the stalks some 10 



14- 

feet liigh, as straight and clean as jute stalks. The fiber is produced 
only experimentally in that country, but it might be used commercially 
if that shown was an average samj^le. 

A FLORIDA SPECIES. 

Another malvaceous plant which grows wild all over India, and which 
is common in Florida, is Urena lohata. It also abounds in South Amer- 
ica, its Brazilian name being Giiaxitnay or uaixi/ma,* while it is known 
in Venezuela as CadiUo. Its Indian name is bun-oehra, the natives of 
India considering its fiber useful for manufacture into sackiugand twine. 
It is called a '• tolerable substitute for hemp." {See Plate ii.) 

Dr. Ernst, director of the national museum, Caracas, Venezuela, 
describes the fiber as very fine, white in color, and a meter in length. 
It is very strong, and takes dyes readily. 

Fiber of Urena lohata was received from Brazil (exhibition, 1876), 
where it is extracted readily and makes very strong cordage. " It 
takes color well, and the dyes are lasting." In the East Indies it has 
been used for the manufacture of paper. Spon states that slips of 
sized paper weighing 39 grains made from this fiber sustained 75 pounds 
against bank of England note pulp 47 pounds. Urena sinuata is another 
Indian species. 

I have found Urena lohata growing in many portionsof Florida, both 
on the east and west coasts, though I have never seen its slender stalks 
over 3 feet in height. It was several times pointed out to me as 
"ramie," by people who had never seen the true ramie growing. 
Recently the plant has been sent to the Department from several local- 
ities in Florida and one in Indiana with inquiries as to its value com- 
mercially. A common name which attaches to the plant in Florida 
is " Cajsar weed." 

SIDA FIBER. 

Sida is another genus of malvaceous plants found in both hemispheres, 
their bast being rich in fiber. A beautiful examjile of the fiber of ^Sida 
retusa, known as " Queensland hemp," was received by the Department 
in 1876 from the Queensland collection (Philadelphia Exhibition), 
accompanied by another specimen from Victoria labeled Sida rhomhi- 
folia. The first named was prejiared by Dr. Guilfoyle, who states that 
'the plant has established itself in Melbourne, and is of very quick 
growth, seeding freely. He regards the fiber as suitable for fine pai)er 
and for the manufacture of cordage. 

The sample of 8. rhomb ifoIiai& very white and lustrous, the filaments 
fine and even. In a portion of the sample the ribbon-like character of 
the bark is retained, filled with delicate indentations, giving it a lace- 
like appearance. These ribbons of fiber break easily, but a twisted 
cord of the finer prepared fiber, the size of cotton wrapping-twine of 

* *■' Notes ou the State of Para." Chicago Exposition^ 1893. 



U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Fiber Report No. 6. 



Plate II. 




The C/ESAR Weed (Urevalobctta). 



15 

the shops, broke only after rei)eated trials with the hands. The fiber 
was prepared by Alexander McPhersou. This species grows in India 
and the bark yields " al)undauce of very delicate fiax-like fibers," which 
Dr. Koxbnrgh thought might be advantageously used for many pur- 
poses. Forbes Watson, in the Descriptive Catalogue of the East Indian 
Department, International Exhibition, 18G2, pronounces the fiber simi- 
lar to jute in appearance, " but considered to be intrinsically so supe- 
rior that it is worth from $5 to $G more per ton, and he places it next 
that fiber " in order to attract to it the attention which it deserves. 

S. rhombi/olia abounds in many portions of South America. In Ven- 
ezuela it is called Uscoha. Dr. Ernst states that it is very common in 
that country, growing wild in all localities. "The fiber is readily 
extracted and is fine and strong." 

Experiments with the fiber of S. rhombi/olia demonstrated the fact 
that a cord one-half inch in circumference would sustain a weight of 
400 pounds. In speaking of Dr. Roxburgh's specimens, Eoyle says 
''the fibers are from 4 to 5 feet in length, and display a fine, soft, and 
silky fiber, as well adapted for spinning as jute, but infinitely supe- 
rior." The specimens of Queensland hemp in the Department collec- 
tion are very well i^repared, and quite strong; the fiber, in color, is 
grayish- white. The Victorian sample, while strong, is dark colored, 
and has been poorly cleaned. 

As far back as 1889, the OfBce of Fiber Investigation received from 
South Carolina statements regarding IS. rhomhifolia, which, on the 
authority of Mr. J. P. Porcher, of Eutawville, in that State, had been 
known as a weed throughout that region for many years, at least since 
1880. Later, when visiting Charleston, my attention was called to the 
plant by Dr. Panknin, who stated that It had made its appearance in 
comparatively recent years, and was now a common roadside weed. 
As it was early in June, the stalks had not sufflciently matured to give 
l>articular evidence of value as a fiber plant, although later some good 
hand-prepared samples of the fiber were secured. 

Learning that Hon. G. D. Tillman, of Charles Hill, S. C, had culti- 
vated the species as a forage plant, I wrote to him for statements 
regarding it, and in time received a reply, dated October 10, 1890, from 
which brief extracts have been taken, as follows: 

I have several acres of this plant growing for pasture only. It is neither fit for 
hay nor for soiling, but it is a good pasture plant for cattle, sheeji, and hogs. 
Horses do not seem to relish it much, while cattle in particular appear to like it and 
thrive on it almost as well as upon Japan clover {Lespedeza striata). The plant has 
a wonderful tap root and a large leaf, besides the habit, where left to reseed itself, 
of standing very thick on the land and shading almost every inch of the surface of 
the soil. For these reasons I have thought it must be an excellent green manure 
plant, and am trying some experiments to test it as such. It looks A^ery much like 
Lespedeza when young, comes up early in the spring and remains green till frost. 
It spreads rapidly in waste clay land along fence rows, in brier patches, etc., l)ut 
on account of the seed being much larger it does not spread nearly so fast as Les- 
pedeza. I never have seen it growing on sandy soil. It atfccts hardpan altogether, 
either clay or compact gravel. 



16 

I do not remember seeing a sprig of S. rhomhifoUa until about four years ago, when 
a small patcb of it first appeared in the back yard of my residence, whence it has 
spread over the yard, covering an acre or more of land, and scattering sprigs of it 
are appearing here and there at numerous localities over the large plantation. Last 
summer I saved 3 or 4 bushels of seed, and in the fall scattered them about in waste 
places and in my pasture, with what result I can not tell, as I have had no oppor- 
tunity to make an examination on account of having been detained at Washington 
all the 5'ear. I was so much interested in the plant for pasture and green uuinuro 
that when I came on at the opening of the present session, last December, I brought 
a sprig of Sida with me to submit to Dr. Vasey for ideutiticatiou and name. 

1 am glad to hear from you now that my mucilaginous pet Sida, "when planted 
thickly and allowed to mature, produces a fine fiber," a virtue I did not dream it 
possessed, although I had often observed the great toughness and strength of its 
bark. In canvassing the Second Congressional district and traveling about the State 
last year, I discovered the plant flourishing in the waste places of the streets in 
nearly every village and town. J also found it thriving in the lanes and along the 
roadside of the forest lands in the Tertiary formation, or "low country" of South 
Carolina, where a clay subsoil prevails, and wherever there was moisture as well 
as clay (in a shallow ditch, for instance) each separate sprig of thick-growing Sida 
was 3, 4, and sometimes 5 or 6 feet high. One striking peculiarity of the plant is 
that a single sprig growing by itself will bunch, or rather branch out from the stem 
just above ground, so as to resemble a squatty thicket of many short-limbed shrubs — 
with only one root, however — but when the sprig grows thickly, each from its own 
root, the plants are straight and without limbs, or knots, on the stems, except at 
the very top, and as tough as hickory, boxwood, or perhaps any other wood. 

The popular name of S. rhombifolia in Lower Carolina is "Tea Plant," and there 
are millions of acres of land with clay subsoil in that section of the State well 
adapted to its growth, much of which can be cheaply irrigated if necessary in case 
the plant should prove commercially useful as a fiber yielder. 

About tliis time it was learned tliat Mr. Volney Dunning, of Atlanta, 
Ga., had been experimenting with the Sida for its fiber, and an inter- 
esting correspondence followed. Seed of Sida retusa was imported by 
him from Australia in March, 1890, and planted in April. The seed 
was nearly six weeks in germinating, and the plants grew very slowly 
during the next six weeks after making their appearance. Their 
growth was rapid in August and September, however, and some good 
stalks, measuring almost 5 feet in length, were obtained. No fiber 
from these stalks was received by the Department, although a lot of 
the stalks were shown in the fiber collection of the Department at the 
Chicago Exposition. In a communication to Mr. Dunning from the 
Technological Museum, Sidney, some interesting statements regarding 
this species are made, the plant being called "Paddy Lucerne." 
Extracts are as follows : 

Paddy Lucerne just as frequently goes by the name of Queensland hemp, and is 
fast becoming a noxious weed in the coastal districts of New South Wales and Queens- 
land, although it thrives most in the warmer latitudes, 1. e., as far south as Eich- 
mond and Florence. Its botanical name is Sida rhomiifolia (retusa), Linn., and it 
belongs to the natural order Malvacew, a natural order notorious for the number of 
useful fibers it contains. The fiber is somewhat like jute, but it appears even 
superior to that well-known article. One plant is closely allied to the Sufet BariaJa 
of India {Sida rhomhoida, Roxb.), the fiber of which was described as " delicate flax- 
like fibers of great strength." It apj)earstobeinevcry respect superior to jute. The 



17 

better known fibers of India Rosellabemp (Hibiscus sahdariff a) .nncT Amb.aree or Erown 
lienip (R. cannahinus) are both of them closely allied to our liber, and the plants 
flourish in similar situations. 

The plant in Queensland grows from 3 to 6 feet in height, and the 
value of the fiber has been stated from $150 to $200 per ton. 8. retusa 
is one of the varieties of S. rhomhi/olia, of Linn, six being recognized in 
India. Another variety which has been experimented with in India 
with good results is the S, rhomboidea. It has been demonstrated by 
experiment in that country that Sida fiber is superior to jute, that under 
hydrolysis, or bleaching and cleaning with alkali, "it loses a very much 
smaller proportion of its weight, is therefore less easily disintegrated 
by the action of water, and is consequently more durable." The fact 
that its stalks are not more than half the length (or size) of jute is a 
disadvantage, compared with jute, as indicating a much smaller yield. 
George Watt, of the Eevenue and Agricultural Department of India, 
was of the opinion, regarding the Indian experiments, that the proper- 
ties of the Sida fiber recommended it as worthy all the time and expend- 
iture necessary to ascertain whether or not all its advantages are 
counterbalanced, from the money standpoint, by a less acreage in yield. 

Thirty years ago the fiber of '■^ ^ufet hariaW [8. rhomboidea)^ as pro- 
duced in India, was considered worth from $25 to $."}0 more per ton 
than jute. 

In a report on the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 188G, the special 
advantages of Sida fiber over jute are stated to be: The fineness of the 
fiber ("it is not half as coarse as jute") as well as its purer quality, 
enabling it to be spun into finer yarns than jute, which would bring it 
into uses that jute has never been able to reach. It takes dyes better 
than jute, and is a better color in its raw state, being described as "a 
beautiful silvery white." 

My own conclusions regarding the cultivation of the plant on Amer- 
ican soil — based upon the results of limited exxjeriment, it is true, and 
from examining stalks from different localities — would lead me to state 
that the plant is too slow in growth, and the stalks too small Avhen 
grown, to make it of commercial value as a fiber plant. And it is 
doubtful if the bast will yield as readily to treatment as jute, for when 
steeped in water it is said to require almost double the time neces- 
sary to properly macerate the jute bast. 

COTTON- STALK FIBER. 

The cotton plant of Southern agriculture, Gossypium Jierbaceum, also 
belongs to the Malvacea', and it may not be kuovvn, generally, that its 
stalks contain fiber of good quality. 

In the collection of fibers sent to the Paris Exposition of 1889 was a 

fine exami^le of the fiber of the cotton stalk, from a plant grown by 

Gov. J. B. Gordon, of Georgia, prepared by the American Consolidated 

Fiber Company, from a green stalk, sixty days from date of planting. 

19504— No. 6 2 



18 

In tbe letter transmitting the specimen it was stated that " the fiber is 
not only good for thread, but for a ^ousand other pnri)oses; it is a 
splendid fiber for paper also, as it will not tear as easily as that made 
from wood pnli) or rags." 

There is no doubt that this fiber would make an admirable twine, 
though its use in " thread" is somewhat overstated. It possesses fair 
strength, specimens I have examined by hand tests appearing some- 
what stronger than jute. The fiber of old stalks that have stood in 
the field is of varying shades of russet in color, while that from fresh 
stalks is a yellow white. 

The antagonism of the farmers of the South to the jute trust, in 1890, 
called renewed attention to unutilized southern fibers for the manu- 
facture of bagging with which to bale the cotton crop, the price of bag- 
ging baving been advanced from 7 to 12 cents per yard. Various fibers 
were suggested as substitutes for the India product, and among them 
the bast of cotton stalks, Avhich, it was claimed, could be supplied 
"from the 18,000,000 acres of cotton fields" in cultivation in the South. 

Among those who experimented with this fiber in manufacture was 
Mr. William E. Jackson, of Augusta, Ga., who gave considerable atten- 
tion to the enterprise, a company having been organized to carry on the 
work. According to statements made by Mr. Jackson, the fiber was 
separated " on a machine which was patented and perfected for South 
American fiber experiments," the name of the inventor not having been 
given. The principle consisted in "running the bast between a corru- 
gated drum revolved by an eccentric attachment on a similarly corru- 
gated concave bed, the charge between being wavshed by a flowing stream 
of water to wash away the residue of gum and bark." 

No statements were made as to the method of harvesting the stalks, 
although the sample of fiber submitted was said to have been made from 
stalks that had been gathered late in February, after exposure to the 
weather for several months. The fiber produced from these stalks was 
sent to Mr. J. C. Todd, of Paterson, N. J., for manufacture, a few yards 
having been prepared experimentally. During a visit to the factory in 
Paterson, a few months later, I was able to secure from the loom whence 
it was made a small specimen of the bagging, which is preserved in the 
collection of the Department. The fiber, which showed fair strength, 
was reddish in color, or a bright russet, though the sample exhibited at 
Paris approached nearer to straw color. 

Naturally the i)roposed new industry created considerable interest 
in the South, and the prediction was made that when properly devel- 
oped it would become a source of great wealth to the Southern people. 
It was proposed to place the decorticating machines in sections of the 
country convenient to the bagging mills, that the fiber might be 
prepared, baled, and shipped as economically as possible. It was also 
claimed that the water or steam power employed in running the gins 
could be used to operate the fiber machines. 



19 

Like many other similar enterprises, the anticipated results were not 
realized, whether through the failure of the decorticating machines to 
turn out the fiber at economical cost, or for other reasons, can not be 
stated. I do not think that the machine question was altogether at 
the bottom of the difficulty, considering the kind of raw material that 
the machines were expected to work upon. A machine constructed to 
operate upon straight, clean stalks half an inch or more in diameter, 
grown rapidly and close together in the field, like hemp stalks, could 
hardly be expected to work smoothly upon the rough, irregularly shaped 
branches and often crooked material that would be yielded by cotton 
l>lants grown primarily for lint cotton. I am of the opinion that the 
harvesting of such rough and uneven material could not be accom- 
plished at economical cost, even if such stalks or branches (;ould be 
successfully cleaned. In a recent letter I am informed that the enter- 
prise has not been altogether abandoned, though nothing has been 
accomplished for several years, so far as I can learn. 

THE FOREIGN SPECIES OF HIBISCUS. 

The most valuable foreign species of this genus is the "hemp like 
Hibiscus" [E. cannabimis). The plant is a native of the East Indies, 
and at-present is largely cultivated for fiber throughout India, the prod- 
uct being almost wholly utilized by the agricultural classes where grown 
as a substitute for hemp. Its common names are Decan hemp and 
Ambari hemp, the latter particularly in western India. In Madras it 
is called Pahmgoo. It is the Mojsta plant of Bengal and Deckanee 
hemp of Bombay. The Sanskrit name is Ndlika. The plant has a 
prickly stem, the leaves deeply parted, and the stem attains a height 
of 6 to 8 feet. The fiber is described as soft, white, and silky, and by 
some writers is said to be more durable than jute. 

Though thriving at all seasons of the year, it is generally cultivated 
in the cold season. The seeds are sown as thickly as hemp, in rich, 
loose soil, and it requires about three months' growth before it is ready 
to be pulled for " watering " and dressing, the mode of treatment being 
the same as that given the sunn hemp, Crotalaria juncea (see page 42). 
Full-grown plants that have ripened their seed furnish stronger fiber 
than the plants cut while in flower, though the fibers of this species are 
more remarkable for their fineness than for strength. 

In harvesting, the plants are either cut close to the ground or pulled 
up by the roots, as the lower portion of the stem contains the best fiber. 
The stalks are submerged in water and allowed to remain from six to 
ten days, according to the weather, when the bark can be readily peeled 
by the hand. Too long steeping, while it makes white fiber, results in 
a loss of strength. 

In a rei)ort of the Eevenue and Agricultural Department of India 
another account is given, as follows: 

The fiber is prepared by buiidling the stalks, -which, after a few clays, are steeped 
for nearly a week in water under stones; Avhen sufficiently retted they are cleaned 



20 

by beating them on tbe ground, the fiber stripped off, washed, and dried. Five hun- 
dred stems, about 8 feet high, as grown en masse in gardens, were recently taken at 
random and the fiber removed and cleaned in the usual way ; the result was 5^ pounds 
clean and good fiber. The stems when carefully dried weighed nearly 20 pounds. 
Assuming the acre to be 40,000 square feet after allowing for waste patches, the 
number of stems at 3 inches apart would be 640,000, hence the yield in clean fiber at 

I pound per 100 would be 6,400 pounds, equal to 2'j tons; the stems would yield also 

II tons of poor fuel. The yield of three fine stems grown along the ridges in tur- 
meric plantations, and measuring 16 to 17 feet high, was 3^ ounces of clean fiber, or 
somewhat over 1 ounce each, instead of one-sixth of an ounce. Tlie dried stems each 
Aveiglied 5 ounces instead of less than three-fourths of an ounce. 

As to uses, a coarse sackcloth is made from its fiber in India (some- 
times called gunny fiber), thougli its chief emjiloyment is for roi^es and 
cordage, it being the common cordage of the country in a few districts. 
Coarse canvas is also made from it. In Bengal it is employed at the 
present time for all the purposes of jute, and also for making fish nets 
and iiaper. Vetillart says: 

The fiber of H, caiinahhuis is stiff and brittle, and has no superiority over jute, 
and it is very inferior to that of India hemp or sunn. The leaves of the plant are 
eaten as a ])ot herb in many parts of India, the taste being pleasantly acid, not 
unlike sorrel. 

The fibers of carefully prepared Ambari are from 5 to feet long. 
Compared with ordinary hemp they are paler brown, harsher, adhere 
closer together, though divisible into fine fibrils, i>«ssessed of consid- 
erable strength. Its tenacity tested with sunn is as 115 to 130. 

In the Kew Bulletin for August, 1891, the announcement is made of 
the discovery, on the shores of the Caspian, of a new commercial fiber 
l)lant, known as Kanaff, the fiber of which, "from its abundance and 
consequent cheapness, and its extraordinary durability, will success- 
fully compete with any other textile for sacking, ropes, and pack thread," 
with " a greater resistance than hemp." The plant is thought to be 
mbiscus cannabinusj the Decan hemp plant of India. 

Hibiscvs splendens (Hollyhock tree). — Fiber from this species, a native 
of Queensland and New South Wales, is exhibited in the museum of the 
Department, ])repared by Dr. W. li. Guilfoyle. director of the Melbourne 
Botanic Gardens, who states that the species is a splendid tree, grow- 
ing to the height of 20 feet or more. " It is very pubescent, bearing 
large pink flowers resembling hollyhocks in size and appearance." 
The fiber is suitable for cordage, fish lines, paper, etc. Fiber of 
Hibiscus sorbifolia and miitahiUs was also received from Dr. Guil- 
foyle, through the exhibition of 1876. Both of these species are indige- 
nous in Queensland. H. mutabiUs is a native of China, but grows in 
India and other eastern localities. Fiber of II. tetracus was also received 
with the above, but does not differ materially. 

The Afahoe or Mahaut, H. arboreus, of the West Indies, groM^s to a 
height of 16 to 20 feet, and its bark furnishes a superior fiber, which, 
according to Squier, "is not at all inferior to hemp for most purposes." 
The fiber is naturally soft and white, and is admirable for the manu- 



21 

facture of paper. H. elatvs, of the West Indies, is employed in making 
cigarette wrappers. It is a tree that grows to the height of 60 to 80 
feet. Hibiscus tiliaceus is worthy of passing mention. It is called 
majagiia in Central America and the West Indies, where it is much 
nsed for cordage. It is little affected by moisture, and is therefore 
selected by surveyors for measuring-lines. It is the BoJa of Bengal, 
and is found throughout tropical and subtropical regions of both conti- 
nents. The native method of preparing the fiber wlien a rope or 
piece of cordage is wanted is to strip the bark from a branch, then, 
holding one end firmly between the toes, first tearing it in strips, it is 
twisted by the hands. "It was generally cultivated in America prior 
to 1492." Beautiful examples of this fiber were shown in the Costa 
Eican exhibit in Chicago, 1893. There are other species growing in dif- 
ferent portions of the world, the fiber of many of which is employed in 
native manufacture. 



OKRA FIBER. 

Ahelmoxclins esculentun. 

Tlie okra lias long been regarded as a fiber plant of valne in India 
and otlier countries, tliongh the production of its fiber lias never 
assumed commercial importance. The i^lant is a native of tlie West 
Indies, but it has found a home in southern portions of the United 
States, where it is grown for its pods, which form a useful article in 
the domestic economy. It is also cultivated in South American coun- 
tries, as well as in countries of the Old World, the French estimnting 
it liighly as a food plant. In France it is known nsf/oniho, nnd it is the 
"gnmbo" of Louisiana, which is emploj^d in a number of Creole 
dishes, the best known being " gnmbo soup." 

During the, lute civil war, wlieu the SonduTu States were cut otT from commnnica- 
tion from the rest of the world by a rigidly enforced blockade, coffee became very 
scarce and difficult to obtain. ])uring this time many of the p60i)le of the Southern 
States, and especially the poorer classes, utilized the seed of the okra j)lant by either 
mixing with coffee or using it alone. They found the seed thus prepared a very fair 
substitute for coffee. 

Tlie plant is a true Hibiscus, the entire family of the Malvacccv fur- 
nishing in the bast of their stalks a fiber which, in the absence of jute 
and hemp, might be employed in the arts for cordage, bagging, and 
other coarse manufactures. When cultivated for its jiods alone the 
okra plants are grown at considerable distance from each other, and 
the strength of the plant goes to develop leaves and fruit; but if culti- 
vated for fiber the seeds should be sown thickly and the plants culti- 
vated closer together, that the stems may grow tall and straight and 
the bark smooth and better adapted to the production of fiber. 

A few years ago okra attracted considerable attention as a possible 
fiber for Southern cultivation, and a large correspondence with the 
Department resulted, aiul many articles on the subject appeared in the 
newspapers of the day. As is frequently the case, however, the valne 
of the plant and the ease of its cultivation for fiber were very much 
overstated, and subsequent experiments did not substantiate the claims 
made for the plant. 

In color okra fiber is as white as New Zealand flax, much lighter 
than jute as usually prepared for export, but more brittle and s]u)wing 
less strength. The filaments are smooth and lustrous and are tolerably 
regular. (For microscopic characteristics of Hibiscus fibers in general, 
see pages 12 and 20.) 

22 



23 

Spon states that the fiber is long- and silky and generally strong 
and i)liant. When well prepared, as in portions of India, it is 
adapted for the manufacture of rope, twine, sacking, and paper. In 
Bengal its fiber is reputed liarsli and brittle, owing doubtless to 
improper treatment, and it is but little manufactured there. In Dacca 
and Mymensing it is used to adulterate jute. It resembles hemj), and 
under this name is exported to the amount of a few thousand hundred- 
weight yearly. In France the manufacture of paper from this fiber is 
the subject of a patent ; the fiber receives only mecbanical treatment and 
affords a paper called handa^ said to be equal to that made from pure 
rags. 

Dr. Roxburgh experimented with okra many years ago in India, and 
made repeated tests of the strength of the fiber. In preparing the 
material for these tests, the stems were cut when the seed was ripe, 
and were steeped a few days before preparing. His tests, compared 
with hemp and jute, are thus recorded : The okra fiber, dry (from India), 
broke with a strain of 79 pounds; wet, 95 pounds; jute {CorcJiorus 
olitorius), dry, 113 pounds; wet, 125 pounds; hemp (Bengal), dry, 158 
pounds; wet, 190 pounds. Hibiscus cannahinus in the same test gave, 
dry, 115 pounds; wet, 133 pounds. Other species of Hibiscus gave as 
follows: H. sabdariffa^ dry, 95 pounds; wet, 117 pounds; H. strictus 
(from the Mollucas), dry, 104 pounds ; wet, 115 pounds ; and ff. furcatus, 
dry and wet, 89 and 92 pounds, respectively. It wull be seen by these 
tests that okra fiber is not only inferior to that from other species of 
mallows, but is inferior to jute, and not half as strong as hemp. 

A correspondent of the Department, Mr. Felix Fremerey, makes the 
following statements of his experience regarding the cultivation of the 
plant for fiber : 

The seeds are thickly sown, on any ricli soil, about the beginning of April in the 
South, and by the beginning of May in the North, in drills 6 inches apart. The 
seeds can also be sown broadcast, about 20 pounds to the acre; but here much care 
has to be taken to sow as uniformly as possible. In eighty or ninety days the stalks 
take a rosy color, and withoiit irrigation they will then have attained a height of 
from 4| to 5i feet, while with irrigation during dry weather they will grow to a 
length of from 6 to 8 feet, and even more. The stalks can then be cut with a mow- 
ing machine, having a dropper attached, 2 or 3 inches from the ground. 

In cleaning the fiber Mr. Fremerey's plan was to strip the bark by 
means of a machine, after which it is steeped in stagnant water for 5 
or 6 days, until the fiber is freed from epidermis and gummy matters. 
The product is then washed and dried. 

In 1890 the Moss Collar, Bagging and Cordage Company, of Fort 
Worth, Tex., became interested in the fiber, and issued a circular enti- 
tled "A Word to Farmers," which contained a lengthy account of the 
production of the fiber and its uses. It was hoped to make the culture 
of the fiber and its manufacture into bagging a success iu order to give 
a substitute for jute that would enable the farmers of the South to avoid 



24 

paying tribute to tlie ''jute trust." I quote a brief extract from this 
circular: 

Okra is destined to become one of the most imi^ortaut fiber plants, for several rea- 
sons. It is the most easily prepared for market, and the processes are so simple that 
any farmer desiring to enter into the cnlture of the plant need not fear his chances 
of success. Machinery for decorticating and degumming is to be had at afar less 
price than machinery for the puri^ose of preparing cotton. The cultnre of the plant 
is as sim])le as that of corn or cotton. Tliere need be no fear of lack of market for 
the liber. It is as salable for cotton bagging, grain sacks, etc., as jute, and as snit- 
able for rope and cordage as sisal and manila. ' Binder twine can be made from it 
on the same machinery as that nsed for either of the above-named fibers. Tlien, 
again, it can be used for the maunfacturc of many of the finer grades of goods, such 
as carpets, blankets, etc., and the shorter fiber is suitable for the manufacture of 
mattresses, horse collars, etc. 

Tlie company named in tlie circular ofl^red to sell seed to the farmers 
at cost and purchase all the product "that could be carted to the 
mill." The Department carried on a lengthy correspondence with Dr. 
M. Chambers, who M^as named in the circular, and was much inter- 
ested in a machine he w^as constructing, which, however, was never 
perfected. A large area was planted in okra near Fort Worth, but 
the Department Avas not able, subsequently, to learn how much liber 
was secured, if any, or to obtain samples of either fiber or stalks. 
Like many other such enterprises, the advantages of the culture were 
very much overstated, and the ratio of cost of i^roduction to yield and 
value of product doubtless appeared, in actual practice, inversely, com- 
pared with the golden promises made at the outset of the experience. 

Mr. W. L. Van Duzor, another correspondent of the Department, who 
Las cultivated the plant in Florida, writes as follows: 

There arc two varieties grown here— the dwarf and the giant, or lai'ge — and both 
grow thriftily in our poorest pine land. The dwarf attains a lieight of 4 feet, and 
the pods are sufficiently matured for culinary use in three months from planting. 
The giant variety, and the one I should judge the most valuable for fiber, requires 
six months to mature, and attains a heiglit of 15 to 18 feet and often lives more than 
one season. I have seen stalks of okra, two years old, full offender succulent pods, 
without a leaf upon the stalks. Not only will it grow from the seed almost without 
cultivation, but in this climate it will rattoon three years, the last crop nearly equal 
to the first, it being very rarely injured by frost. I am unable to say Avhat the yield 
of stalks per acre would be, but I think I could safely say 15 tons. 

A South Carolina correspondent, who had experimented with the 
plant for several years, suggested a novel means of avoiding the use of 
a machine in stripping the fiber. His plan is to allow the stalks to 
stand in the field until after frost, when the bast can be easily peeled 
by hand. The ribbons of stripped bark are then boiled out in water. 
A claim of 1 ,500 to 2,000 pounds of fiber per acre by this process is 
made, at a cost of 2 or 3 cents per pound. Such a plan is not advis- 
able, however, as the fiber would doubtless lose in strength. Then, 
such crude hand methods of harvesting could not be made to pay, where 
the fiber must be employed as a substitute ior jute, with which it 
would comnete. 



25 

Notwithstanding' all that has been written upon the subject, and the 
experiments that have been carried out in different localities in an 
endeavor to establish the industry, the efforts have not been productive 
of satisfactory results. 

Dr. C. F. Pankuin, of Charleston, S. C, who planted a small area in 
okra, gave the results of his carefully conducted experhnents as fol- 
lows: A half acre of stalks was ])roduce(l, one half of which, when 
decorticated by his process, yielded at the rate of 180 i^ounds of fiber 
to the acre, the expense being in the neighborhood of $75. The fiber 
has been used experimentally in the manufacture of paper in Ala- 
bama. 

From a careful consideration of the subject in all its details, not only 
as relates to our own but to other countries, and considering the Aveak- 
ness of the fiber compared with jute, I conclude that the cultivation of 
the okra plant for its fiber can not be made a paying industry in the 
United States. And this opinion is em])hasized by the fact that there 
are several species of indigenous fiber plants which could be as easily 
grown and Avhich are superior to jute in strength, while India jute 
itself will do well in many of the Southern States. 



ABUTILON FIBER. 

Ahutilon species. 

A very common malvaceous plant that has been cultivated experi- 
meutally iu the United States is the Indian njallow [AhutiUm avi- 
cennw). It is an annual, growing to the height of 4 to 6 feet, though 
stalk? 8 feet or more in length are recorded. Although it has been con- 
sidered an indigenous species, Gray states that it was introduced from 
India, and when found growing wild has escaped from cultivation. It 
is widely distributed, north and south, east of the Rocky Mountains, 
and is found in the State of Washington. {See Plate iii.) 

Abutilon fiber is known in the Argentine Republic and other South 
American countries, where it is called caiictipina. Its Chinese name is 
Cli'lng Ma, though its liber has been exported to England under the 
conimou name jute. It has also been called Abutilon hemp, and the 
name "American jute" was once given it in this country, though this 
designation would prove very confusing were the true jute ever produced 
in the United States. 

The Indian mallow grows so freely upon any rich soil, even thrusting 
itself in and growing spontaneously, that it has almost come to be con- 
sidered a farm pest in many portions of the country. It grows luxuri- 
antly throughout the West and North, the line of States from Ohio to 
Missouri producing even now vast quantities of the fiber, which rots 
and goes to waste upon the stalks every year. The fiber is strong, 
glossy, and white, and the ligneous body of the plant gives more cellu- 
lose for paper stock than any other species. It has been claimed that 
fiber extracted from plants that have not reached their maturity will be 
fine enough to work into yarns for carpet fillings and even fabrics, 
although I have no doubt the mature fiber if properly pre])ared could 
be so manufactured. It takes dyes readily, and an advantage is claimed 
in this respect over our India jute, which is antagonistic to cheap 
bleaching and dyeing. The fiber was once classified in value between 
Italian and Manila hem]), but it will not grade so high, coming nearer 
to jute, as is proved by its being sold as a variety of jute. The seed of 
the plant is so hardy that it is not affected by the severest winter, 
which enables the plant to perpetuate its species in any locality where 
introduced. 

Prof. Waterhouse at one time strongly advocated the cultivation of 
26 



U. S, Dept. of Agriculture, Fiber Report No. 6. 



Plate III. 




The Indian Mallow (AbiitHoii drirennce). 



27 

tliis species for its fiber, to wliicli he gave the name " Bute." Fifteen 
years ago he wrote as follows : 

Abutilon avicennce seems susceptible of development into a source of public wealth. 
The plan t grows throughout the West iu rank and wild luxuriance. It has the spirit 
and capacity of conquest. With invasive march it has taken possession of large 
tracts of laud. Its tenacity of life and rapid spread render its cultivation a far easier 
task than extermination. There are to-day, in the suburbs of Saint Louis, stalks of 
abutilon 8 feet in height. Unlike Indian jute, abutilon needs no naturalization. 
To the manner born, it exhibits a stubborn deterniinatlou to occupy its heritage. 

EXPERIMENTS WITH ABUTILON AVICENN^. 

Experiments with the plant in cultivation date back twenty-five years 
at least, when it attracted considerable attention in the West, particu- 
larly in Illinois, through the endeavors of Mr. J. H. McConnell to 
establish the industry. The value of the fiber was demonstrated at 
that time by its manufacture into twine, rope, etc., and in the report of 
a State fair committee, in 1871, the fiber was given a flattering promise 
of utility. According to this report the plants are stated to grow 9 to 
14 feet high ; the seed should be sown 12 to 16 quarts per acre, in corn- 
planting time, in the same manner as hemp; it is cut with a reaper, 
shocked like hemp till cured, then water-rotted like hemp; a volunteer 
crop will spring up the last of July, which can be dew-rotted. The 
cost of cutting is given at 75 cents per acre; water-rotting, $10; dew- 
rotting, $5; hand cleaning, $12; and half as much by machinery, mak- 
ing the total cost, not including rent of land, $19 to $31. Messrs. 
McConnell offered $100 per ton for all Avater-rotted that could be fur- 
nished and $75 for the dew-rotted. The crop is not exhausting to the 
soil if the refuse is restored to it. 

Seven or eight years later the plant was the subject of special inves- 
tigation and experiment in the State of New Jersey, through the 
endeavors of Mr. Samuel C. Brown, secretary of the bureau of labor, 
statistics, and industries of that State. A circular was issued in 1878 
for the twofold purpose of awakening an interest in the subject of fiber 
cultivation, and to ascertain what portions of the State were best 
adapted to its cultivation. While the promoters of these experiments 
were satisfied that no difficulty existed in the cultivation of the fiber, 
the enterprise fiiiled completely, notwithstanding the fact that a bounty 
was offered for the production of the fiber.* Since the present fiber 
investigations of this Department were begun I have received from Mr. 
Brown a communication on the subject which is worthy of note, an 
extract from which is as follows : 

While I did give much attention to the development of fibers from plants indig- 
enous to New Jersey soil, I am sorry there is so little now to show for the time and 

* Jute. — For every ton of 2,000 pounds of AbuUloii avicenno} stalks grown in New 
Jersey not less than 3 feet long, $.5; for every ton of 2,000 pounds of what is known 
as rose or marsh mallow, not less than 3 feet long and not more than 1 inch in diam- 
eter at the butt, $5 ; fractious of not less than a quarter ton in each case will be jiaid 
for at the same rate; for every pound of marketable quality of disintegrated jute, 
2i cents. [The term ''jute" iu this paragraph is a misnomer. — C. K. D.] 



28 

money expended in that direction. This is largely owing to a lamentable and pre- 
vailing lack of interest and siiirit of cooperation on the part of the public. A sin- 
gular and well-nigh universal apathy exists still in the cultivators of the soil in 
respect to the introduction of new indnstries designed to afiord new and diversified 
employment both to skilled and unskilled labor, which is obviously a pressing need 
of our time and of various sections of our country. I am just as well satisfied to-day 
as I was years ago that jute can be made a domestic product, and from India seed 
naturalized in our Middle and Southern States; moreover, that it can be successfully 
ol)tained, as a valuable substitute for the India jute, from the rose mallow and Abu- 
tilon, which have a wild and luxuriant growth, as you know very well, over the 
East and West. The want of a cheap mechanical device for decorticating the vari- 
ous fiber-i>roducing plants so abundant iu our countrj' remains the impediment to 
the unlimited production of native fibers. 

Commeiitibg on this communication, subsequent investigation by this 
office inclines me to the opinion that the failure to create this fiber 
industry fifteen years ago was due more to the lack of proper machinery 
to economically clean the fiber than to the mere lack of public interest 
in the establishment of a new enterprise. The machine question is the 
rock upon which many a promising fiber industry has been wa^ecked 
even at a later period. 

I give an extract from Mr. Brown's report, which appeared in 1879, in 
the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics, Labor, and Indus- 
tries of New Jersey, regarding the value of the fiber: 

We have had two interviews with Importers of jute, with samples of New Jersey 
jute fiber in hand. The gentlemen were informed of the circumstances under Avhicb 
our samples were prepared, with the further assurance that they were not equal to 
what would bo produced from the same garden plants later in the season. The 
quality, however, was pronounced to be very good, and, furthermore, that if we 
"never produced anything better than that our country had something of great 
A'alue;" and still further, that "America would become an exporter of jute." * 

It was stated, at the time that these experiments were made, that an 
acre of ground would produce 5 tons of Abutilon stalks, and about 20 
per cent of pure fiber would be obtained after preparation. This was 
considered superior to jute fiber as imported, the long fiber fully equal 
in value to Calcutta prime jute, and Philadelphia rope manufacturers 
are reported as having offered to buy any quantity at the highest mar- 
ket price for jute. Bleached and cottonized for fabrics, Mr. Lefranc 
j)ronounced the Abutilon fiber good for weaving tissues and for mixing 
with a certain class of woolen goods. Abutilon avicennco in its crude 
state was said to be worth from $8 to $10 per ton. In regard to its 
preparation Mr. Lefranc made statements as follows: 

In India, jute is rotted in water and separated by hand from the ligneous body. 
This method can not succeed in America. As with ramie, machinery and chemicals 
must be substitiited for the xn'oductiou of American jute (Abutilon). As explained 
in the case of ramie, the jute industry can be most successfully established by organ- 

* By "jute," AJjutilon avicennoi is meant. The application of the name " American 
jute" to the Indian mallow is an error, as the term should be used only to designate 
fiber from the jute of commerce {Corchorus oUiorius) grown in our own country. The 
name "China Jute" in Fiber Trade Circulars is also a misnomer. {See p. 30.) 



29 

ized agencies tbrougli wliicli farmers could sell their raw crops by the ton. At $10 
per toil for dried stalks in proper shape, the grower and the maunfactnrer could 
realize, respective! j', legitimate profits from the new industry. 

That the plant grows in any rich soil suitable for corn and potatoes, 
and that as a farm weed it is liable to be troublesome, only establish 
the fact of easy cultivation. The point of culture being- settled, the only 
remaining question relates to the preparation of the fiber, which must be 
cheaply accomplished, and in a manner that will give the least trouble 
to the farmer. 

That the fiber can be disintegrated and separated from the stalks by 
steeping in water, like flax and hemp, or jute (as is practiced in India), 
is well understood, but the steeping pool should be avoided if possible. 
At the time of the New Jersey experiments it was thought that the 
question of economically cleaning the fiber had been settled by the 
invention of a "combined chemical and mechanical iirocess." It was 
stated that the practical advantage of this refining process consisted 
in obtaining a vegetable wool so nearly akin to coarse animal wool "as 
to render their union in coarse fabrics advantageous, and for additional 
possible uses by itself a valuable substitute." No comment is neces- 
sary further than to state that a process which produces anything but 
clean, straight fiber can hardly be called satisfactory, especially as the 
principal use of the " vegetable wool" would be in the adulteration 
and cheapening of the fabrics in which it would be employed. Tiiere 
is no doubt that a combined mechanical and chemical process must be 
employed in extracting all jute-like fibers, but the process must give 
straight fiber, uninjured as to strength, and with the natural color pre- 
served. This means a machine that will strip the bark at economical 
cost and an after-process that will remove the gums without weaken- 
ing the fiber. Steeping the ribbons in water for the requisite number 
of days is the simplest form of accomplishing the result, but this is 
primitive. Nevertheless, machine-stripping and water-retting of the 
bark is the jirocess adopted by Mr. Fremerey last year in his jnte 
experiments, though I have never seen the figures showing the actual 
cost of producing fiber in this way. 

Douglas Hickox, of Springfield, 111., patented an improved process 
for manufacturing paper from Abutilou in May, 1877. A mill was 
started in Springfield previous to the invention of the process, and sev- 
eral thousand tons of fiber were worked up, but a merchantable paper 
could not be obtained. Subsequently another process was introduced 
into the mill, and Abutilon paper was manufactured for about eighteen 
months, after which the fiber was abandoned and straw used in its 
place. A series of paper samples submitted for inspection are fair 
wrapping papers, resembling a light manila more than anything else. 
The paper was clear and of firm texture. 

A small series of samples of Abutilon fiber were exhibited in the 
museum of the Department eighteen years ago, which were very inter- 



30 

estiiig, though they have since been removed. There were also small 
samples of rope and twine, probably from the factory started in Illinois 
twenty years or more ago. 

Another use to which the fiber was put, though only to a limited 
extent, was in the manufacture of a substitute for feather dusters, a 
few stiff feathers being* inserted in a handle in the center of a mass of 
fiber to hold it out in the form of a duster. Other fibers, as hemp, are 
used for the same purpose. I had no opportunity to examine manu- 
factures from New Jersey -grown Abutilon, though samples of fiber 
shown me by Mr. Brown seemed very strong and good. 

ABUTILON FIBER IN OTHEK COUNTRIES. 

There are no records showing that the fiber of Abutilon avicennce is 
produced commercially in any country but China. By reference to the 
monthly circular of Messrs. Ide & Christie, the London fiber brokers, 
the name '^ China jute" will frequently be found in the quotations of 
imported fibers. The identity of this "jute" was investigated two or 
three years ago by the authorities of the Koyal Kew (iardens, and it 
w^as discovered that the fiber was the product of Abutilon aricenna', 
and that it was produced in the Hupeh and Szechwan districts of 
northern China, the locality from which certain grades of imported 
ramie are derived, as ascertained by this office. In the Kew Bulletin 
for October and November, 1891, occurs this statement: 

ChHng Ma. — This is Abutilon hemp, the product of the plant knoAvn to botanists 
as Ahuiilon avicennce Ga<^rtn. It is commonly cultivated in Hupeh and Szechwan, 
and is the greater portion, if not all, of the "hemp" passed through the Ichang 
customs. According to Bretschneider, it is also cultivated in Chihle, and I have 
little doubt it is what is passed through the Tientsin customs as "jute." In support 
of this I find in a customs publication that all the hemp exported from Tientsin is 
called by the Chinese Ch'ing Ma, and by the foreign merchants "jute." 

Further correspondence brought a report from Acting Consul Ilosie, 
at H. B. M. Consulate Chefoo, on the cultivation of a fiber plant at 
Chefoo, identified as Abutilon avicenmv. The following extract, which 
relates to cultivation and preparation, is interesting: 

This plant, known in the north of China as Ch'ing Ma, or more briefly CWing, 
yields the liber, also called C/i'tn//, which appears as "jute "inthe export returns of the 
imperial maritime customs. It is an annual. The seeds are sown towards the middle 
of April inland that has previously been well worked and manured, several seeds being 
sown together at intervals of about a foot apart, and not more than an inch under 
the surface. Unless, however, the soil is rich, only one of the seedlings is allowed 
to mature. In years of normal rainfall the stems, which are branchless with alter- 
nate large, smooth, serrated, ovate, acuminate green leaves with long leaf stallis. 
attain a height of 8 to 10 feet. They are green and supple throughout, with a cir- 
cumference at the base of from 1| to 3| inches. In July and August they bear num- 
bers of yellow five-petaled flowers on stalks, which spring from the axils of the leaf 
stalks. These quickly fall, and are succeeded by seed capsules of comparatively 
large size, grooved, and semispherical in shape. Towards the end of August the 
plants have attained maturity. They are then cut down by knife near the root, and 
the leaves and tips are lopped off. The stems are made into bundles tied loosely at 



31 

the tip eufl, and placed upright in standing water, so that only the lower ha\tcs we 
submerged. The root halves, being more mature than the upper, require more ret- 
ting, and for this reason they undergo two days' preliminary steeping. After the 
lapse of two days the bundles are laid on their sides in the water, and covered with 
sufficient earth to sink and bring tliem in contact with the bottom of the pond. In 
four or, at the most, five days the fibrous iieel is loose enough to be easily removed 
by hand from the woody interior. The fiber ribbons, which have now all but lost 
their green color, are afterwards washed in cleau, cold water and spread out in the 
sun, and when dry they are of a good white color, such of the external greenness 
as remains after the rotting and washing disappearing in the process of drying. 

I have endeavored to learn if any of this " China jnte " comes to the 
American market, for it would be extremely interesting to know if we 
have been purchasing, even in small quantities, a fiber j)roducedon the 
other side of the world from a plant that is almost a farm weed in this 
country. But what can be said when almost the same course is fol- 
lowed in the United States regarding flax? 

During my visit to the Kew Gardens in 1889, I was shown a sample 
of a new fiber plant belonging to this genus which had been received 
from Trinidad, Subsequently I was able to obtain some fine specimens 
of both fiber and stalks, the latter fully 12 feet in length. These were 
tlie product of Ahiitilon periplocifoUum, known commonly as " Mahol- 
tine," and the samples were received from Mr. T. J. St. Hill, Port of 
Spain, Trinidad. From statements made by Mr. St. Hill the i)lantcan 
be very economically produced, and by simple methods. He says: 

It thrives magnificently in barren and rocky soil; the land is simply prepared by 
burning, when the seeds are thrown broadcast over the plain, about the beginning 
of the month of May, and the stalks are ready to be converted into fiber one year 
after. No attention is required to be paid to the plant whilst growing, and wild 
Aveeds, etc., do not affect them in the least. Plants growing very near to each other 
will produce A'cry tall stems, say from 10 to 12 feet high and straight, but those that 
happen to grow far apart will shoot out branches and make bad growth, and the 
ribbons will be very irregular — I should say 6 inches from each other would give 
splendid growth. 

When the bark is green it can be peeled its entire length with no 
other preparation than steeping the stalks in pools of water from five 
to eight days. The color of the fiber is a creamy yellow, and some of 
the samples received measured 11 feet 10 inches in length. Samples of 
the fibers submitted to London brokers were favorably reported upon 
and valued at £17 to £20 per ton. Seed was obtained and sent to sev- 
eral points in Florida for experiment, but the Department was unable 
to secure from the experimenters any reports of the results. I wish to 
state that this is not the only attempted experiment in fiber culture by 
the Department that has come to naught through the carelessness and 
indifl'erence of those who undertook the work. In the larger portion 
of the cultural experiments of the Ofiice of Fiber Investigations it has 
been obliged to rely upon the voluntary assistance of those having no 
connection with the Department, and who have undertaken the work 
without expense to the Government. It is little wonder, then, that 
occasionally "no results" are reported. 



32 

The genus Abntilon has several representatives in South America, 
all of which yield a good quality of fiber. In the collection of the 
Argentine Republic at the Chicago Exhibition of 1893, liber was shown 
of good length and color, and I am informed that the plants abound in 
Entre Kios, Corrientes, Missiones, and Oran Cliaco territories, where 
their bast is employed in native uses. 

Among Brazilian species may be named AbuHlon mollis, A. striatum, 
A. Bedfordianum, and A. iH')iosum, all of which have been introduced 
into Australia. The last-named species, especially, has been experi- 
mented with in Victoria, and, according to Dr. Guilfoyle, is capable of 
producing " a fine quantity of fiber, suitable for fishing lines, textile 
fabrics, and paper." 

A. striatum is the species commonly met with in greenhouses in win- 
ter and growing out of doors (in this latitude) in our gardens through 
the summer. A sample of fiber was received from the Victorian col- 
lection. Its bark, which peels readily, furnishes a fiber of very fine 
texture. As this plant grows so readily out of doors in the warmer 
portions of the United States, it might be worthy of experiment. The 
fiber is of good length, as the shrubs grow to the height of 4 to C feet, 
and, as the bark peels readily, it could be as readily extracted as the 
other species. Ahutilon oxycarpum is indigenous to Queensland. A 
sample of the fiber in the museum is well prei^ared, white, soft, and 
lustrous, and appears a little stronger than the Victorian sample. A. 
indicum and polyandrum are East Indian si^ecies which furnish a strong 
fiber for rope-making, the first-named growing wild in the Bancoorah 
district and used as a substitute for cordage in making fences for gar- 
dens, but for no other purpose. A beautiful samj)le of indicum was 
shown in the India collection at Chicago, 1893. 



ASCLEPIAS, OR MILKWEED FIBER. 

Asclepias species^. 

The milkweed family, the Asclepiadacew, contains a large number of 
fiber-producing plants found in various portions of the world, varying 
from shrubby growths a few feet in height to the Giant Asclepias of 
India, which reaches a height of 10 feet or more. The several species 
in the United States all possess a fibrous bark, and bear seed pods 
filled with silky hairs resembliug thistle down. 

The most important species, viewed as a fiber plant, is Asclepias 
incarnata, or swamp milkweed, which, according to Gray, abounds 
from Maine to Minnesota and southward to Louisiana, being found as 
far south as the Carolinas on the Atlantic coast. {See Plate iv.) A 
variety, A. pnlchra, having hairy stems, has almost as wide a northerly 
distribution, and is also found in North Carolina. 

Many specimens of the stalks and fiber of this species have been 
sent to the Department in the past four years for determination and 
for statements regarding the utility of the plant, the fiber being thought 
valaable. As early as May, 1890, the species attracted considerable 
attention in Minnesota as worthy of cultivation. Among other letters 
received by the Department was one from Mr. A. E. Ball, of Rushford, 
Minn., which is produced almost in its entirety. Regarding the plant 
and its fiber — the species at the time the letter was received not having 
been identified — Mr. Ball says : 

I believe this plant is soon to become a source of vast worth to the whole coun- 
try. I sent some of the fiber to J. C. Todrl &. Co., Paterson, N. J., to whom I refer 
you for facts. Mr. R. J. Hall, president of the Minnesota State Alliance, to whom I 
addressed the package, writes: " It (as twine) is stronger than hemp or flax, works 
with surprising ease, and stands a breaking test of from 95 to 125 pounds, and is 
pronounced by experts one of the beat fibers known; thinks it will make a fine cord 
that will bring a high price." Mr. Todd wants 200 or 300 pounds to make into bind- 
ing twine at once. Minnesota can make her own twine at a cost that will save the 
farmers hundreds of thousands of dollars. I can get this fiber for Mr. Todd, but 
would have to liire boys to gather it at a probable expense of 50 cents per pound. I 
Can supply you roots enough to set out a thousand acres this year, which would cost 
probably $5 per hundred, boxed and delivered at the express office, and 500 roots 
cover an acre. I can gather 100 tons of the fiber next fall from wild plants in the 
Northwest and save all the seed required to supplant the whole hemp and flax areas 
of the countrj', provided I can be set at work with two or three assistants, and a 
fund to pay labor. 

Samples of fiber and binding twine made from it were afterwards sub- 
mitted to me by gentlemen interested in the product, who visited the 
Department for the purpose of securing all possible information con- 

33 
19504— No. 6 3 



34 

cerniiig the utility of the product. The fiber submitted was light gray 
in color, much fluer thau hemp as usually prepared, soft aud glossy, and 
was found to possess greater strength than the majority of bast fibers 
of wild growth in the United States that had been submitted for exam- 
ination. I stated that, while no better than common hemp, it might pay 
to cultivate the plant for its fiber, but as hemp culture was an estab- 
lished thing, and hemp was also found growing wild (escaped from 
cultivation) in the same region of country, I did not think there would 
be any especial advantage in its cultivation. Instructions were given 
as to planting close, like hemp, in case the experiment was attempted, 
from the roots rather than the seed, and suggestions were made regard- 
ing the harvesting of the stocks when the plant had finished its growth, 
in order to obtain the fiber in the best possible condition. As nothing 
further was heard from these gentlemen, I do not think the experiment 
in cultivation was attem])ted or the matter further investigated. 

In a letter to Mr. Ball about this time I stated that there was no 
question but that the plant would produce a good fiber that might be 
employed for binding twine, but whether he would be able to grow the 
plants and produce the fiber at a cost of less than 4 cents a pound was 
another matter. Hemp suitable for binding twine had been shown me 
that could be sold at a reasonable price. Subsequently, in 1891, 1 deter- 
mined to give the fiber a careful test in manufacture, iirovided a suffi- 
cient quantity in i^roper condition could be secured. The Depart- 
ment, therefore, comnuinicated with Mr. Ball, accepting his offer to 
secure the fiber at 50 cents per pound for stalks growing wild, and pro- 
posed to contract with him for 300 pounds at the price named; or if it 
was preferable for him to grow the stalks from the roots, a better 
arrangement was offered, as it was considered that such an experiment 
would prove more valuable, promising, as it did, more satisfactory results. 
After considerable correspondence Mr. Ball informed the Department 
that, inasmuch as it would be imx^ossible to secure the material from a 
near source of supply he had expected to rely upon, he could not con- 
tract to collect the fiber at less than $2 per pound, and the experimental 
tests were necessarily abandoned. Mr. Ball offered to contract for roots 
at $25 per thousand. 

Later there was some correspondence with Representative Wash- 
burn e, that was referred by him to this Department, suggesting the 
appropriation of a considerable amount of money by Congress for 
experimenting with the culture and manufacture of the fiber. Such an 
appropriation of public funds was hardly deemed advisable, however, 
and the matter was dropped. 

If a small quantity of the fiber could have been collected and manu- 
factured at a cost not exceeding $250, it would have been money well 
spent, as it would have enabled the Department to learn all it wished 
to know that would be of practical value in determining the utility of 
the fiber in manufacture. 



U. S Dept. of Agriculture, Fiber Report No 6. 



Plate IV. 




I HE Sa'av.p Milkweed (.-.u-lepUis incanuifa) 



35 

Some of the points favorable to the culture of Asdepias incarnafa are 
touched upon in the corres])ondence referred to, which are M'orth pre- 
senting. Mr. Ball says: 

It can be produced on overflowed land where no other cnltivated plant will grow 
and yield double the fiber that flax will produce. Such lands may be described as 
bottom lauds subject to overflow, of whicli Minnesota has thousands of acres. The 
use of such tracts would avoid drawing upon our grain lands. 

The crop is perennial and would not need renewing oftener than once in twelve 
years. The stalks stand well after maturity and can be harvested any time after 
October 1 without injury to the fiber. The plant will produce as much fiber as a crop 
of hemp and. with less labor. I find it grows as far north as the 46th parallel, and I 
incline to the opinion that cultivation will carry it up to the British line and per- 
haps beyond. It blossoms iu August, and the fiber does not fully develop until nearly 
quite ripe, or in September. For tliis reason a shortening of the season four weeks 
would injure its value. The Minnesota Valley is its natural home, and it is common 
to the upper Red River Valley, and thrives iulowa, Illinois, Missouri, and the States 
west. 

Regarding statements made in the second iiaragraph, I think the 
writer is in error in assuming that the plants need not be renewed 
oftener than once in twelve years. I am satisfied that in six years the 
soil would become fllled with roots and crops of inferior stalks would 
result. The same mistake has been made in this country regarding the 
culture of ramie, experiments in India showing that a field should be 
replanted as often as once in four or five years. Then, too, it is a mis- 
take to infer that because fiber of good strength can be secured from 
the standing stalks in midwinter the stalks can be harvested at any 
time. When the fiber has reached maturity they should be harvested 
to secure the best results. As to the yield of the fiber compared with 
flax or hemp, positive statements can not be made until an acre or more 
has been regularly cultivated and the product of a given area weighed 
after the fiber has been cleaned. 

Undoubtedly Asclepias incaniata promises better results than any of 
the indigenous species of bast fibers in the United States that we have 
considered. If it will thrive upon waste lands, where no other crops 
Avill grow, it has to that extent an advantage over hemp, considering 
the strength of the fiber as fully equal to hemj^. I would not wish 
to make an authoritative statement that it is equal to heiup, however, 
without some careful tests undei known conditions. 

The first cost of setting out the plants would be quite large at the 
price of |25 per thousand for the roots, but this expense would not be 
incurred again for several years, and after tracts had become regularly 
established roots in any quantity could be secured at times of replant- 
ing or thinning. 

As to the value of the fiber in manufacture, I can make no positive 
statements further than that samples of binding twine examined were 
found to be strong and good. As the fiber resembles hemp, there is 
little doubt that it could be emxiloyed in all uses to »vhich hemp may 
be applied. 



36 

EXPERIMENTS WITH ASCLEPIAS INCAENA.TA. 

Mr. S. S. Boj'ce, of Buckley, 111., a valued correspoiideut of the 
Department, was at one time quite interested in this species, which he 
considers one of the most valuable of our native "hemp substitutes." 
He has experimented with the freshly grown stalks, and finds that 
the bast does not yield to treatment readily, whatever may be said of 
old, weather-beaten stalks found in the tield, the source of the binding 
twine fiber referred to on a former page. In a communication to the 
Department Mr. Boyce makes statements as follows: 

Asclejiids incarnata flourislies iu low, moist gronuds and by slow running streams, 
growing annually, from a perennial root, some 5 to 7 feet high. It grows in clumps 
or stools, starting as soon as frosts leave, and seems to assert its position successfully 
with other shrubbery and weeds. In many respects the plant seems to resemble the 
ramie; the fiber is soft and silky until the i>lant is quite mature, and rather difficult 
of handling by any present known process, but from experiments already made it 
promises to equal the ramie in fineness and value. The plant may be propagated by 
seed, but the root maj^ be divided into from 5 to 10 separate plant hills and produce 
stalks the same season. 

It should have an abundance of water to draw from, although plants 4 feet high 
have l)een noticed growing upon uplands, but unless set thickly together the plant 
is shorter and more bushy. 

Some stalks were secured from Pennsylvania for exhibition at Chi- 
cago, but they came too late to be treated for their fiber, so only the 
stripped ribbons were shown. These stalks were straight and smooth, 
about 4 feet iu length, grown the i)revious season. 

THE COMMON MILKWEED. 

Probably the commonest and best known species of milkweed or 
"silk weed'' growing in the United States is the Asc/(^>ms cor«M^i (A. 
Syriaca, of Linn.). Found in Canada, it grows over a wide section of 
our own country, and is as well known in jiortions of South America 
and in the Old World. While so widely distributed it does not seem to 
have been utilized for fiber beyond limited experiment. The culture 
of the plant is said to be attended with little difficulty, as it generally 
thrives on poor soil, and, like the former species, is a perennial. It 
grows from either the roots or seed, so would be easily propagated if 
desirable to cultivate it. 

The only portion of the plant of which practical use can be made is 
the bast, which furnishes quite a flue, long, glossy fiber that is strong 
and durable. Early authorities have given this fiber a place between 
flax and hemp, and the yield has been claimed to be about equal to the 
latter. Dr. Schaeffer, as fiir back as the fifties, made comparisons of the 
two fibers in Kentucky, and his conclusions were most favorable for the 
Asclepias fiber. He says : 

The native fiber was taken in winter from the decayed stalks as they stood in the 
ground, where they grew without culture, while the hemp had not only been culti- 
vated but treated afterwards with the usual care. The fiber of the milkweed was 
nearly, if not quite, as strong as that of the hemp, but apparently finer and more 
glossy, while the quantity from a single stalk of each was nearly the same. 



37 

Among specimens of the fiber shown in the ohl Glover rausenm of 
this Department were some tine examples from Brazil, which had been 
most carefully i^repared, showing that the value of the plant was recog- 
nized in that country, though there are no records of its use in manu- 
facture. According to one of the old authorities, " an early knoAvledge 
of the fiber of silkweed caused its introduction into Europe, where it 
has fully become a cultivated plant, while in its own country but little 
is known of its true value." Dr. Masters, a European authority, states 
that " its excellent fiber is woven into muslin, and in some parts of India 
is made into paper." From the Flax and Hemp Commission of 1863 the 
Department received small pieces of Asclepias cloth mixed with one- 
third cotton. This, though coarse, is quite strong. From the report of 
Flax and Hemp Commission (p. 74) the microscopic character of this 
sample of fiber is given as follows: 

Imperfectly cottoiiized, aud of course unequal in staple. Some single cells, which 
could be drawn out, were found to resemble flax in many resjiects, but differing in 
decided markings that form long spirals, aud also in the diameter of the internal 
cavity, which is less than that of flax and more irregular. "* * * A specimen from 
Eussia shows that the cells will not average more than three-fourths of an inch, if 
so much. 

The fiber forms a good paper material and doubtless might be culti- 
vated with profit for this purpose. 

VEGETABLE SILK. 

While the stalks yield a good fiber the pods or seed-vessels produce 
a mass of silk-like filaments, adhering to tlie seed, which resemble a 
thistle down. This silk-like substance has frequently attracted atten- 
tion as a valuable fiber material. From time to time, and in dift'erent 
countries, fabulous accounts have appeared regarding the discovery of 
a plant producing a vegetable silk that was capable of being woven 
into the most delicate tissues. Only recently samples of this substance 
were received by the Department from a Bermuda correspondent, who 
saw in the cultivation of the plant for its '^silk" a possible valuable 
industry. Experiments in this country have shown that the substance 
has no value beyond a mere upholstery material, or for use as wadding, 
and for stuffing pillows. Spon makes the statement that the material 
is used for stuffing beds in this country, and reference is made to the 
manufacture of fabrics from it in Russia and France. A French firm 
has used it by mixing 20 per cent of the "down" with 80 i)er cent of 
wool, the fabric being called "silver cloth." The substance could not 
be used alone, as the cells are so smooth that they have no felt'ing 
property, and therefore will not hold together and can not be spun. 
They iiossess little strength, and can only be considered as "down" or 
silky hairs, and not as fiber. 



38 

OTHER SPECIES. 

In the Javanese exhibit at tlie Chicago World's Fair, two fibrous pro- 
ductions were shown, one a bast fiber of good color and great strength, 
the other a substance resembling cotton, but of a creamy color. The 
bast fiber was derived from the Giant Asclepias {Calotroins giganfea), a 
plant common to portions of India and Eastern countries. It is of consid- 
erable value in Indian pharmacy, growing wild upon arid wastes, and 
producing a fiber of superior quality that might b'j used for many pur- 
poses. It resembles flax somewhat in appearance, and is quite strong. 
It is not cultivated in India, though its fiber is regarded in Madras, 
where the plant grows wild, as the best and strongest material for bow- 
strings and tiger-traps. The plant is known under a variety of names, 
as Ashur in Arabic, Muddar and Alc-Muddar in Hindoo; in Madras it 
goes by the name of Yercum. As it thrives upon soils where nothing- 
else will grow, needing neither culture nor water, it has been consid- 
ered an advisable plant for bringing waste land under tillage and for 
reclaiming drifting sands. 

Spon states that an acre of ground stoclced with i^lants 4 feet apart 
each way will yield 10 tons of green stems and oS2 pounds of fiber per 
acre, as prepared by native methods, which waste 25 per cent. The 
same authority says : 

The fiber is said to possess many of the qualities of flax {Lhnim usi- 
tatissimum), though it is somewhat finer. Its fineness, tenacity, luster, 
and softness fit it for many industrial purposes. It is said to be better 
adapted for textiles than for cordage, and that it may readily be mixed 
with silk. Yet it shows a high degree of resistance to moisture. 
" Samples, exposed for two hours to steam at 2 atmospheres, boiled in 
water for 3 hours, and again steamed for 4 hours, lost only 5-47 per 
cent, by weight, as comi)ared with flax, 3-50; manila hemp, 6*07 ; hemp, 
6-18-8-44; coir, 8-13."— [Spon. 

The mode of separating the fiber, as practiced by the natives,is exceed- 
ingly tedious, and would prevent the material from becoming an article 
of commerce unless some more speedj^ and less trifling way for pre]>ar- 
ing it could be discovered. In short, no water is used, and every thing- 
is done by hand manipulation, assisted by the teeth. Flax mac.hinery 
might facilitate the matter if it was desired to cultivate extensively for 
fiber. As to its cultivation ''it is difficult to conceive anything less 
productive than dry sand, yet the Muddar thrives in it, requiring no 
culture and no water." Dr. Wight tested sam])les of the fiber from 
Madras, where it is much employed for fish lines, and found that it bore 
a strain of 552 pounds when snnn hemp bore 404 j^ounds. Royle's 
exj)eriments gave IGO for Eussian hemp and 100 i)onnds each for Jub- 
buljiore hemj) (Crotalaria) and the Muddar or Calotropis [jigantea. 

A cotton-like substance which is derived from the pods, is similar to 
the silky hairs of the common milk- weed, though coarser and less silky. 



39 

The cotton-like substance shown in the Javanese exhibit was errone- 
ously stated to have been derived from this species. The Java- 
nese name of the fiber is Kopak, and the Kopak of Java — which is 
exported to Holland in commercial quantities as an upholstery mate- 
rial — is the product of a malvaceous plant, Eriodendron anfractuosum. 
The cottony liber of Calotropis gigantea is said to have been manufac- 
tured into shawls and handkerchiefs, but I can not think it possesses 
suflflcient strength to be spun alone. I am aware, however, that a soft 
kind of cloth has been made from the ■•' down " of this tree by mixing 
with cotton. It has also been used in the manufacture of paper. 

There are several other species of plants belonging to t\ie, Asdepida- 
cew, that are known to the vegetable economy as liber producers, and 
found chieily in the Old World. Among these is the Marsdenia tenac- 
iHsima, Kajraahl Bowstring Creeper, the plant producing the jeetee 
fiber of India. There is no sample of the fiber in the Museum, but as 
it is often referred to, and is well-known, it will be proper to mention 
it. It grows in the Rajmahl hills of India in dry and barren places, 
and the fibers of the bark are employed for making bowstrings by 
the mountaineers. "The fibers are not only beautiful in appearance, 
but strong and durable." In Dr. Roxburgh's tests of twine made from 
jeetee^ he found that in the dry and wet states it bore a strain of 248 and 
343 pounds, when hemj) in the same state bore 158 and 190 ijounds. 
More recent tests, however, place it below hemp in strength, but above 
it in elasticity. The fiber is much used for making nets, and is not 
liable to injury by being kept in water. 



COLORADO RIVER HEMP. 

Seshania nmcrocarpa 

The botanical family Loguminosce contains many species of plants 
giving a strong bast fiber, some of the foreign species having a known 
commercial value. In our own country the single genus Seshania of 
this family has attracted attention as fiber-producing plants. 

Specimens of the straight stiff canes of the Seshania macrocarpa, or 
wild hemp of the Colorado River region, have been sent to the Depart- 
ment at different times in the past twenty years, the best samples of 
stalks and fiber having been received from the veteran collector, Dr. 
E. Palmer. Dr. Parry, formerly Botanist of this Department, informed 
me many years ago of the abundance of the species on the alluvial 
banks of the Colorado, and also stated that it grew in South Carolina, 
Arkansas, and Texas. The fiber of this Museum sample, now loaned 
to the Columbian Museum in Chicago, is 3 to 4 feet long. The fila- 
ments as extracted are exceedingly coarse, and resemble flat ribbons 
of fiber, uncommonly white and lustrous, and clear and smooth to a 
remarkable degree. Single filaments are quite strong, but when several 
are twisted together they lose a part of their strength, a defect some- 
times observed in better fibers. It is somewhat elastic, but its smooth- 
ness and elasticity are not in its favor where tenacity is required, as 
the filaments will not cling when worked together. It is sufficiently 
strong for small cordage for ordinary use, though too coarse for fish- 
line or twine, as roughly prepared. 

EFFORTS TO UTILIZE SESBANIA MACROCARPA. 

Within a few years the plant has again been brought into prominence 
by correspondence and through articles which have appeared in the 
press of the Southwest, and efforts have been made by the Department 
at different times to secure a sufficient quantity of the fiber to test its 
value in manufacture. Among the early communications on the sub- 
ject made to the Office of Fiber Investigations was one from O. P. 
Townsend, of Yuma, Ariz., who says: 

An indigenous plant commonly known here as wild hemp, producing a fiber of 
great excellence, grows profusely on both sides the Colorado River from Yuma to 
tide water at the Gulf of California. The large fields lie in Mexican territory and 
cover nearly 100 square miles of area. Numerous experiments have been made with 
different kindsf of machinery to utilize the valuable plant. The old hand-brake sys- 
tem produces 20 per cent of fiber. The Indians work it into nets and fish lines. 

Later the Department was in correspondence with Mr. D. K. Allen, 
editor of the Yuma (Arizona) Sentinel, in relation to the securing of 
40 



41 

fiber, and more recently with Mr. James Madden, land agent of the 
Southern Pacific Hailroad, who was asked to aid the Department in 
securing about 200 pounds of the product. The Department was 
unable, however, to learn of any one who would contract for the quan- 
tity of fiber desired and the matter was deferred. Mr. Allen has made 
some interesting statements relating to the growth of the plant and 
also regarding the expenses of cutting and harvesting the stalks, 
extracts from which are here reproduced : 

The wild hemp ripeus from the 1st to the 3d of July, as a rule, and still in many 
places it holds green until September 1, and the late growth until Octolier 1. It 
grows on the clean clear soils or lands lying along the sloughs or branches of the 
Colorado and New rivers, which are dry during the fall and winter months. Our 
first rise in the Colorado comes in February and lasts into March. The second comes 
in May and June and runs oft' from that time on till the next February. The seed of 
the wild hemp sprouts and begins to grow in April and May and runs up and looks 
exactly like wild or overgrown mustard stalks — in fact, one could hardly tell one 
from the other except for the difference of taste in the seeds. When young they are 
not at all alike. As soon as the water recedes in August, and from that on, you can 
go almost where j'ou please over and through the hemp lands, although some of the 
sloughs or branches of them contain a little water and would have to be bridged. 
But they are very narrow, only 10 to 20 feet and only 2| to 5 feet deep, with plenty 
of wood, brush, and timber with which to build the bridges. 

Some of the hemp can be cut with a machine, but much of it will have to be 
cut by hand. In April I could have shown stalks of the hemp that, a foot above 
the ground, measured 10 inches in circumference, or more than 3 inches in diameter. 
One of the McCormick reapers, rigged with guards of the proper size and with a 
sickle to correspond, can be arranged so as to cut easily where it is not larger than 
a man's finger. 

The hemp can be dried and pressed into bales on the ground where it grows. It 
now grows all along the river and back from it for 10 to 12 miles, for a distance up 
and down it for 100 miles. Many of the sloughs where water remains thi'oughout 
the year can be used. Flat boats that can carry 10 to 15 tons can be loaded and 
towed with horses or mules, poled or towed by Indians when the banks are too soft. 
Sails can also be used to take the hemp to the river where it can be loaded on 
steamers and brought up to the railroad, or down the river to the gulf where it can 
be loaded onto vessels for any port in the world. 

My estimate is that at the very least there are 50,000 acres of it, and that in the 
poorest years it will yield 500 pounds of the dressed fiber per acre. This makes 
25,000,000 pounds— 12,500 tons, or 1,250 car loads of 10 tons each. This is the lowest 
estimate ever made by any one. There are years, for instance last year and this, 
when there was and will be at the very least four times as much per acre. We cal- 
culate that two good Indians will cut or pull an acre a day, and pile it up so that it 
can be handled, or say, on the average, one Indian will gather 500 pounds of the 
clear fiber per day. The hemp grows on the average to be about 9 to 12 feet high, 
and I have had stalks that measured 32 feet in length. 

Among the manufactures for which it has been claimed that this 
fiber is fitted are wrapj)ing, writing, and bond papers, twine and cord- 
age, "sacking, overall stuif, Irish linens;" and a fabric "better than 
the best Japanese Pongee silk." Judging from the Museum samples 
of fiber, collected by Dr. Palmer and known to be from Seshania macro- 
carpa^ I do not think it capable of manufacture into "Irish linens" 
or "Japanese Pongee silk," although the filaments can be very finely 
divided. A specimen recently submitted to Dr. Thomas Taylor was 



42 

subdivided down to one ten-thoiisandtb of an incli. As the plant 
grows wild over such an extended area, it is important that a quan- 
tity of fiber should be secured sufficient to make a thorough test of 
its value before making positive statements regarding its utility. 

The fact that the stalks of one sample submitted to me as the Colo- 
rado Eiver hemp and partially treated had not the smooth cane-like 
appearance of the Seshania, being more irregular, like hemp, suggested 
to me the possibility that there may be two species of fibrous plants 
growing in this region. The appearance of the stalk of Sesbania is 
nnmistakable. The specimen referred to had some of the peculiarities 
of a common hemp stalk. 

Even considering the coarseness of the fiber, should it be found quite 
inferior to the commercial cordage fibers, tlie fact that it grows over 
such vast areas without cultivation, and with such large yield, com- 
mends it to our attention, for if it can be cleaned cheaply it has a value 
for some purpose, and when subdivided by after chemical treatment 
there is no doubt that the fiber might be used for higher parj^oses of 
manufacture. 

Seshania vesicaria. — Mr. P. S. Clark, of Hempstead, Tex., in cor- 
respondence with this office, states that this species suddenly made 
its appearance in his neighborhood, " and seems to have come to stay." 
He describes the fiber as very strong, and thinks that it would make a 
good bagging fiber for baling the cotton crop. 

FOREIGN LEGUMINOUS FIBER PLANTS. 

While treating of American species belonging to the Leguminosce it 
may be well to consider a few species which are of commercial impor 
tance in the Old World. Sesbcniia aculeata produces the well-known 
Dunohee fiber of India, which is highly esteemed for the manufactnre 
of ropes and cordage, and is regarded as a coarse substitute for hemp. 
The plant is a native of the Malabar coast, and also grows in China. 
In Bengal it is called Jayunti. The plant grows to a height of 6 to 10 
feet; the fiber is long, but much coarser and harsher than hemp. Ben- 
galese fishermen make the drag-ropes of their nets of this substance, 
on account of its strength and durability. It is generally grown in wet 
soil, requiring little preparation, as the plant is hardy and of rapid 
growth. It is sown at the rate of 30 pounds of seed to the acre. In 
Northwest India, during the rainy season, it springs up in rice fields, 
and other wet, cultivated lands. A i^eculiarity of the fiber is its 
remarkable contractability, as from contraction alone ropes made of it 
are said to be able to carry away the mainmast of a ship. 

Grotalaria juncea. — Early in 1893 the Department imported a small 
quantity of seed of the well known sunn-hemp plant of India. It came 
too late to distribute to southern localities for experiment, but a little 
of the seed was planted in this locaHty. It made a fair growth and 
early came into blossom, but the growth was small and the fiber not 
fully matured at the end of the growing season, and the experiment 



43 

seemed to demoustrate that tlieplaut is not suited to the latitude of the 
District of Columbia. The seed has been distributed to fifteen southern 
stations and localities for test the present year. 

Its Indian names are Chun-pat and Chumese; Sanscrit name, Sana; 
the fiber is known as sunn (or san hemp), Taag, Cankanee hemp, Indian 
hemp, brown hemp, and Madras hemp. Sunn hemp is "probably one 
ot the earliest of the distinctly named fibers, as we find, in the Hindoo 
'Institutes of Menu,' that the sacrifical tliread of the Cshatriyu, or 
Kajpoot, is directed to be made of sana.^^ The plant producing this 
fiber is a shrub growing from 8 to 12 feet high, with branching stem 
marked with longitudinal furrows. When cultivated it is sown quite 
close, at the beginniug of the rainy season, in order that the plants may 
grow tall and thickly together — the natives say, the thicker the better, 
so as to prevent the air passing through it — 80 to 100 pounds of seed 
being used to the acre, and some even sow a larger quantity. In some 
portions of India two kinds are cultivated, one sown in May and June, 
when the first showers fall, and the other in October, though in quality 
they are the same. "That sown in June is cut in August and Septem- 
ber, and the other about AjDril." 

In the Dictionary of the Economic Plants of India there is a full 
account of the treatment of the plant in cultivation, from which 
extracts are rejiroduced : 

In Kolaba it is sowu iu November, after the rice is liarvested, and tbe stalks are 
uprooted in March. In Kolhapur it is sown in August and harvested iu December 
by being cut when tlie plants are full grown. In Poona it is sown in July and 
ripens in October. In the central provinces and the northwest provinces it is a 
Icliarif CTOj), being sown with the advent of the rains; but in Bengal it is sown a 
little earlier, namely, from 15th of April to 15th of .Tunc; in Madras the sowings 
take place even still earlier. In tbe experiments performed at the Saidapet farm, 
Madras, sunn was shown on the 2d of February. In the Ain-i-Akhari the plant is 
described as bearing its yellow flowers in spring, a fact which Mr. Hem Chundcr 
Kerr (writing of Bengal) exjiresses some astonishment at, since "it now flowers in 
the rainy and cold seasons." Roxburgh says it is sown in Bengal in May and June, 
and flowers by August — that is to say, towards the end of the rainy season. In the 
last agricultural report of Bengal it is stated that the crop is harvested from 15th 
of August to 15th of September. 

It requires a light but not necessarily rich soil, and it can not be grown on clay. 
It is, therefore, sown on the high sandy lands less suited for the more important crops. 
Wisset remarks that clay soils are injurious, but that on a rich soil the fiber is of a 
coarser quality than that grown on dry high situations. 

The opinion prevails all over India that high cultivation is not necessary for sunn 
hemp. Of Kolaba it is said, "The soil is roughly plowed twice and the seed sown 
broadcast." In Bengal " the seeds are sowu broadcast. It is necessary to have the 
plants grown thick, otherwise they become bushy and coarse and give very inferior 
fibers." "There is nothing more required after sowing till harvest time." In the 
northwestern provinces " two plowiugs at most are given, and the seed is sown 
broadcast and plowed in. It germinates quicker than any other crop, the seedlings 
showing above ground within twenty-four hours after being sown. Iri igation, even 
when necessary, is rarely given, and no weeding is required."' In the experiments 
made in Madras, to which reference has already been made, it was apparently sown 
in drills. "The land was prepared for an ordinary crop by plowing and harrow- 



44 

inguutilit was reduced to a proper state, and the seed was then sown with the drill 
in rows 9 inches apart at the rate of 12 pounds per acre," but in the northwestern 
provinces about 1 niaund (or 80 pounds) to the acre is general. In Bengal 20 seers 
(40 pounds) to the bigha (three-fourths of an acre) is the customary amount of seed. 
Roxburgh states that from 80 to 100 pounds weight to the acre were used in his 
time. The plants should not be more tlian2i to 3 inches apart each way, and hence 
thick sowing is desirable. 

In most cases the plants are pulled up by the roots; in others the stems are cut 
with a sickle close to the grouud. Of the Poona district, Bombay, it is stated that 
the crop is "left standing for about a month after it is ripe, that the leaves, which 
are excellent manure, may fall on the land." It is not clear wliether the crop is left 
on its roots — that is to say, not reaped — or whether it is cut and stacked on the 
fields; the latter more probably. The greatest difference of opinion prevails as to 
whether the cut crop should be dried before being steeped, or, like jute, be carried 
at once to the retting tanks. But even with jute some cultivators dry the plants 
sufficiently to allow of the leaves being rajiidly stripped, since these are supposed to 
injure the color of the fiber if allowed to rot in the water of the tank. With reg.ard 
to sunn hemp, the general rule may be almost safely laid down that in moist regions, 
like Bengal, rapid submersion is preferred, and in dry regions, like Madras, stacking 
the crop is practiced. Roxburgh from actual experiments arrived at the opinion 
that "steeping iumiediately after the plant is pulled is the best, at least in Bengal 
during the rains, for then it is very difficult to dry it and the liber becomes weakened 
and the color injured." 

The average yield of fiber is about 640 pounds per acre. In preparing the fiber 
in the Lucknow district the stalk is cut nenr the root when the plant begins to 
flower, " tied in large bundles, and immersed in water, the natives putting small 
weights upon it (generally mud) to prevent it being carried away. After remaining 
in water from four to eight days it is withdrawn, taken bj' handfuls, beaten on a 
piece of wood or stone, and washed till quite clean and the cuticle and leaves 
entirely removed." The woody portion is separated by further beating and shaking 
when perfectly dry. At Commercolly the plants are pulled, tied in bundles, and are 
then left standing in water on their roots to the depth of several inches. This allows 
the iiber to obtain the right degree of firmness without becoming parched and dried 
by the sun. Oversteeping causes the bark to separate very easily, but weakens the 
fiber. Dr. Roxburgh found "no advantage, but the reverse, bj- drying the plant 
after maceration and before the bark is removed," which is the mode practiced in 
regard to flax and hemp. .After the fiber has been separated it is thoroughly washed, 
by repeatedly squeezing and wringing the water out of it, after which it is hung 
upon lines. When dry the fiber is separated a little, or combed with the fingers, 
and then bundled for market. 

In another account it is stated that small pools of clear water, well 
expovsed to the sun's beams, seem best suited for the steeping, because 
heat hastens maceration and consequently preserves the strength of 
the tibers, while clean water preserves their color. 

Having discovered that the necessary degree of retting has been 
attained, the cultivator, standing in the water up to his knees, takes a 
bundle of the stems in his hand and threshes the water with them 
until the tissue gives way and the long, clean fibers separate from the 
central canes. According to some writers the retting stems, after 
being partially washed, fire taken out of the water and placed in the 
sun to dry for some hours before being beaten out in the way described. 
This j)ractice, while it is followed in some parts of the country, is con- 
demned in others as injurious, or at least as a useless delay. 



45 

The drying is usually accomplished by hangiuo- the fiber over bam- 
boos to be dried aud bleached by the suu. Naturally, iu this country, 
such primitive processes as are described above would never be 
resorted to. They are interesting, however, and some valuable points 
may be gained from the experience. 

When the plant first began to attract attention among Europeans it 
was believed the Hindoo method of treatment could be improved upon 
with favorable results, but much opposition was raised by the natives, 
who declined strenuously going out of the beaten track of their fathers! 
It was found to be a much more delicate jilant than hemp, and conse- 
quently could not be prepared after the European methods without a 
modification of the processes. 

As to tenacity, experiments made with fiber grown and prepared 
under the supervision of the agent of the East India Company gave a 
result which, when compared with the best Eussian hemp, was iu the 
proportion of 4 to G, sunn being the weaker. Royle states that while 
"some recent sunn broke with 170 pounds strain, when Russian hemp 
broke with 160 pounds, the former may not bear the same degree of 
twisting as the latter." In Dr. Wight's experiments with sunn, cotton 
rope, hemp, and coir, they were found to stand a strain of 407, 346, 290 
and 224 pounds, respectively. The fiber is used principally for ropes 
and cables, though in India it is manufactured into cordage, nets, sack- 
cloth, twine, aud paper. The finely dressed and most carefully pre- 
pared fiber is made into canvas of great durability. 

The Jubbulpore hemp {Crotalaria tenuifoUa) has been considered by 
some authors to be a variety of G. juncea, and is said to be superior to 
Russian hemp {Cannabis satlva), breaking approximately at a strain of 
95 pounds for the first named to 80 pounds for the latter. It is 4 to 5 
feet in length, and resembles best Petersburg hemp, compared with 
which Royle considers it equal, if not superior. Although its cultivation 
IS limited, it is regularly grown for its fiber, which is used for the same 
purpose as sunn. 

There are several other species of Leguminous fiber plants, which 
grow in the tropics, and in South America and India. They are gen- 
erally climbers. In the Museum are two large coils of rope made from 
the Chain Creeper {Bauhima splendens) that were received from Brazil 
and Venezuela. Iu the last-named country the tree is called Bejuco de 
Cadena. Dr. Ernst, of the Venezuelan Commission, says the plant is 
common in the hot, damp forests. " The stems are extremely flexible 
and tough, so they can be used as cords, being more durable than iron 
nails, which in the damp atmosphere rust very soon and give way." The 
ribbon-like strip is very dark-almost black— and the cordage made 
from It is of the very coarsest description, the entire bark often, as 
peeled from the tree entering into its structure unbroken. The two 
cables are about an inch each in diameter. B. racemosa, known as the 
;-Maloo Climber," abounds in the valleys of the Himalayas. B. scandens 
IS an Indian species, about as strong as sunn-hemp. 



MISCELLANEOUS FIBERS. 

Having described the more important species of uncultivated bast 
fibers, it only remains to mention a few forms of lesser importance tliat 
have been the subject of occasional inquiry, or of limited experiment. 
Among the species of lesser importance which from time to time have 
been submitted to the Department are a few containing fibrous mate- 
rial in their bast, but of such inferior quality that they can hardly be 
considered as fiber jjlants, burdock being an examide. Many experi- 
ments with such plants have been zealously carried on in this country 
that would have been more wisely directed in other channels, the pos- 
sible commercial value of the fiber to be obtained seemingly not having 
been considered. In a sense "fibrous substance" is found in many of 
the common plants growing all about us, and some of these while not 
adapted to the production of "textile fiber" might have a fair paper 
stock, though the ratio of cost of reduction to value of product 
obtained must always determine the question of their utilization. It 
is not proposed, however, to discuss paper materials in this report, 
though they may be given a passing mention in a future report on mis- 
cellaneous American fiber plants. 

INDIAN HEMP. 

The Indian Hemp plant, known botanically as Apocynum cannahinum, 
has long been regarded as a useful fiber plant by certain tribes of l!forth 
American Indians. From it they manufacture, in rude fashion, bags, 
mats, small ornamental baskets, belts, twine, and other cordage, fish- 
ing lines, and nets. The fiber is easily separated from the stalk, and 
when cleaned is quite fine, long, and tenacious. In color it is light cin- 
namon, as usually seen, though finely prepared specimens are creamy 
white and remarkably fine and soft. Samples of the fiber have been 
received at various times from Minnesota, l!^^ebraska, Utah, Nevada, 
and Arizona, together with a great variety of articles of Indian manu- 
facture. The finest prepared specimen is a fish line, such as is used 
by the Pi-Utes at the Walker River Reservation in Nevada. The fiber 
will rank with Asclepias for strength, and is readily obtained, as the 
stems are long, straight, smooth, and slender. Although paper has not 
been made of it, it could doubtless be utilized for that purpose. 

The plant, which is indigenous to the United States, is a perennial 
herb, belonging to the dogbane family, with upright branching stems, 
4 or 5 feet in length, having opposite leaves, and a tough, reddish 
i6 



47 

bark. {See Plate v.) Spon mentions the species, but gives it the com- 
luou name " Colorado hemp," which does not apply to this species but 
to Sesbania macrocarpa, previously described. He states that "it yields 
a flue, white, strong fiber." The naturally prepared fiber of the speci- 
mens of A. cannabinum that have come under my notice are always a 
dark cinnamon color, and not white, and it may be that the two species 
have been confounded by European writers. 

In the Eussian exhibit at the Columbian Exhibition, was shown a 
beautiful sample of Apocynum fiber, about 2^ feet in length, and dark 
salmon in color, which it was claimed was used commercially in Russia 
to a limited extent. 

There are several foreign species, as A. sibiricum, A. syriacum, etc., 
which abound in Southern Siberia, Turkestau Trans-caucassia, and on 
the Adriatic, and that produce fiber employed for cordage, fishing nets 
lines, and other uses. Spou states that in some districts, where the 
fiber is more carefidly prepared, it is manufactured into textiles. " It 
is separated by a short retting, is strong and elastic, easily divisible, 
bleaches and dyes well, and has a length of 6 to 12 feet." 

THE NETTLES. 

TJrtica gracilis, one of the stinging nettles, abounds throughout the 
United States and Canada. As it is related to the ramie plant it natur- 
ally possesses a good fiber in its bast, though the stinging hairs which 
clothe its stalks and leaves make it unpleasant to handle. Its fiber, 
gathered from weather-beaten stalks found standing in the fields, has 
been sent to the Department from various localities. A few years ago 
it attracted attention in Minnesota, and an attempt was made to reduce 
the fiber, though the experiment was interrupted before completion 
and no report could be made. From a communication to the Depart- 
ment by Mr. J. Carmichael Allen, in 1891, the following extract is pro- 
duced : 

I have about a half ton of the straw of Urtica gracilis retting and will furnish you 
with samples of the fiber as soon as ready. It seems a close relative of the Boeli- 
merui fiber, though whether dew-retting will prove a successful system or not for 
this plant I shall not be prepared to say until I scutch some of it. I inclose a sample 
of tow I made from a few of the stems this afternoon. You will see it is not suffi- 
ciently retted and the fiber though soft does not appear to be over strong. From the 
nature and feel of it I expect it will be better adapted to mix with wool than as a 
substitute for flax, and this comes more under the Rhea class. 

It may be stated that the fiber of U. heterophylia, which is found in 
Coromandel, Nepal Burma, Assam, etc., is known as vegetable wool, 
and it is claimed that the filaments of this species, " having a rougher 
surface than those of Boehmeria nivea (ramie), are, therefore, moreeasily 
combined with wool in mixed fabrics." 

I have never seen a properly prepared sample of the fiber of U. gra- 
cilis from fresh stalks and am unable to describe its characteristics in 
this particular. 



48 

Laportea canadensis. — This is another stinging nettle which produces 
an average quality of fiber. Samples of both stalks and fiber were 
received by the Department from Kansas, in 1890. The name Indian 
hemp is sometimes given to the species, but it is a misnomer, the true 
Indian hemp being an Apocynum. 

THE COMMON BURDOCK. 

Several years ago the stalks of the common burdock, Arctium lappa, 
were the subject of experiment by Mr. W. W. Ball, of La Salle, 111., 
who hoped to produce at low cost a fiber material suitable for binding 
twine. Specimens of the stalks and samples of the '' fiber," both straight 
and in the form of "tow," were submitted. The filaments were found 
to be harsh and wiry, very brittle, and possessing little strength. A 
small sample, extra treated, was yellowish in color, very soft and pliant 
to the touch, but absolutely worthless as to strength. 

It was claimed that the plants could be produced in quantity in new 
or wavste land, and could be cut, crushed with a cane mill, and the bast 
steeped in pools of water at small cost, the fiber to be stripped by 
children. It was suggested that the soifter fiber, referred to above, 
could be employed in upholstery, and even in fabrics, or could be pre- 
pared as paper stock. 

It is almost needless to say that "fiber plants" of this class have no 
value in the industrial economy, the fibrous material contained in their 
bast being too inferior ever to be used in manufacture where so many 
other better fibers are obtainable that may be produced possibly at 
less cost. This form of " fiber plants" illustrates a large class that have 
been the subject of exi)eriment from time to time, but it is not neces- 
sary even to attempt their enumeration. 

TREE BASTS. 

Another form of fibrous material which has been employed to a cer- 
tain extent in the coarsest of manufactures, if manufactures they may 
be called, are the tree basts, or the fibrous inner bark of such trees as 
the linden and cypress. The linden trees are familiar in our public 
parks and gardens, where they are cultivated for adornment, though as 
lumber they are known as basswood. Tilia Americana is the Ameri- 
can representative, while T. JEuropwa abounds in the Old World. The 
inner bark of the American species has not been utilized so far as 
I am aware, but the bast of the foreign species is much employed in 
Russia in the manufacture of an exceedingly coarse kind of rope for 
making the matted shoes worn by the peasantry, and also for the manu- 
facture of the mats which are used to a considerable extent by furni- 
ture dealers for packing. They are also used by gardeners as a cover- 
ing or protection to glass frames. For the larger and better kinds of 
mats, trees 8 to 16 years old are used, which are cut when full of sap. 



U. S, Dept. of Agriculture, Fiber Report No. 6. 



Plate V. 




The Indian Hemp Plant (Apuvymun cannulinuin). 



INDEX. 



A. 

Pape. 

Abelmosch ns esculent us 22 

Abutiloii 26 

exiieriments with the fiber in foreign countries 30 

Illinois 27 

New Jersey 27, 28 

paper from 29 

preparation of fiber in China 30 

soil adapted to 29 

State bounty for cultivation 27 

uses of fiber 29, 30 

various species 32 

A . avicennw 26 

Bedfordiaiium 32 

indicum 32 

mollis 32 

oxycarpwni 32 

peripl Oct foil urn 31 

poly an drum 32 

striatum 32 

venosum 32 

Agricultural Department of India, extracts from reports 19 

Allen, D. K., statement 40 

Amhari bemp 19 

Apocynacece 46 

Apocynum cannahinmn 46 

sibericum 47 

syriacum 47 

Arctium lappa 48 

Asclepidacece 33 

Asclepias corn uti 36 

' ' fiber " in the pods 37 

tests of fiber 36 

incarnata 33 

experiments with 33 

for binding twine .' 35 

growth of the plant 36 

pulchi-a 33 

B. 

Bagging fibers 18, 24 

Ball, A. E., statements 33 

Ball, W. W., statements 48 

51 



52 

Page. 

Bast fibers, botanical families yielding 9 

([uestion of economical production 10 

Baiihinia rncemosa 45 

sca)idcns 45 

splendens 45 

Binding twine >53 

Boyce, S. S., statement 30 

Brown, Saninel C, experiments 27 

Burdock, liber from 48 

C. 

CadtlJo 14 

Caesar weed 14 

Calotropis yigcm tea ,...,.. 38 

China jnte.,.. 3*1 

Ch'uHi Ma 2(1. 30 

Clark, P. S., statement 42 

Colorado River hemii 40 

areas where growing 40 

pre])aration and uses 41 

Cotton-stalk fiber for bagging 18 

Crolalaria Jniicea 42 

prei)aration of fib<!r 44 

methoils of cultivation 43 

tenidfolia 45 

Ciipressiis fhyoides 49 

Cypress, bast from 49 

D. 

Deckanee hemp 19 

Diitichce fiber 42 

Dunning, Volncy, experiments 16 

E. 

Economical questions relating to bast fibers 9 

Eviodendron atifracfitosum 39 

Ernst, Dr. A., statements 14, 45 

Escoha 15 

F. 

Fremerey, Felix, experience 23, 29 

G. 

Gnaxima , 14 

Guilfoj-le, Dr. W. R., statements 20 

Gumbo, Of Gomho , . , . . , • - •> - -^ 

H. 

Hemp-like Hibiscus , , ,.- 19 

Hibiscus-fiber 12 

experiments with 12 

microscopic characters 12, 20 

various species 19 



53 

Page. 

Hibiscixs-fiber, vjiiious species H. arhoreits 20 

cainiahhiHS 19 

elatim 21 

moncheutds 12 

midahUis 20 

sahdariffa 13 

sorhifoUa 20 

splcndcns 20 

ti'lraciia 20 

til Ulceus 21 

Hickos, Douglas, expcrinieiit 29 

I. 

Indian hemp 46 

Indian mallow 26 

J. 

Jackson, William E., experiments 18 

Jamaica Indian sorrel 13 

Jeftee fiber 39 

Jubbulpore hemp 45 

K. 

Kanoff 20 

Kew bnlletin, extracts 20 30 

Knapp, E. N., statement 13 

Eopak 39 

L. 

Laporiea canadensis 48 

Lcyuniinosa' 40 

Linden, bast 48 

LI. 

Machinery, reference 10 

McConnell, .T. H., exp'eriments 27 

Mahoe, or Mahaut 20 

Maholtine 31 

Mallow, the Swamp Eose 12 

Indian 26 

Malvaceous fibers 12 

Marsdenia tenacissima 39 

Milkweed fibers 33 36 

Moss collar, Bagging and Cordage Company experiments 23 

O. 

Okra fiber 22 

comparisons of strength with other fibers 23 

cultivation in Florida 24 

Texas 23 

efl^'orts to utilize 24 

experiments in South Carolina 24 25 

uses 24 



54 
p. 

Page. 

"Paddy Lucerne" 16 

Panknin, Dr. C. F., statements 15, 25 

Paper materials, reference to 46 

E. 

Rozelle hemp 13 

Roxburgh, tests of strength of foreign fibers 23 

S. 

St. Hill, T. J., statement 31 

San hemp 43 

Schaefter, Dr., tests of strength of Asclepi.as fiber 36 

Sesbania aculeafa 42 

macrocarpa 40, 47 

vesicaria 42 

Sida fiber, commercial A'alue 17 

retiisa l6 

rhombifolia 14 

experiments in India 14 

forage plant iu South Carolina 15 

rhomhoidea 17 

" Siifet hariala " {Sida rhomhoidea) 17 

Sunn hemp 42 

Swamp milkweed 33 

Rose mallow 12 

T. 

Tilia americana 48 

cordata 49 

Etiropwa - 48 

Tillman, Hon., G. D. communication 15 

Tiliacect! 48 

Tree basts 48 

U. 

Ulmns alata 49 

Urena lohaia 14 

Urtica gracilis 47 

helerophylla 47 

Urticacew 47 

V. 

Van Duzor, W. L., statements 24 

Vegetable silk from Asdepias pods 37 

Vdtillart, microscopic tests 12,20 

W. 

" Walioo," bast from 49 

Waterhouse, Prof. S., statement 26 

o 



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